Recovery Road
by Monday1113
Summary: After volunteering to help find a young girl who disapeared, Lloyd finds himself in the middle of the girl's recovery. Her friends say that she's changed, she's become violent and self destructive. Can Lloyd help put everything back to the way it should be? I suck at summaries. T for slight language, mentions of blood, and other things
1. Chapter 1

**I know I shouldn't be starting yet ****_another_**** story, but this idea has been in the back of my mind since September...so...here it is, finally typed up and not bouncing around in circles. This is going to be mainly Lloyd centric(it's mostly in his POV, and he's going to find out what happens when he gets mixed into a total stranger's recovery.) Possibly LloydXOC if you want it.**

**I listened to the song Run by Snow Patrol the entire time I wrote this so...if ya want to...play the song while you listen**

**I only own my OC's Ninjago belongs to Lego and whoever else has claim to it.**

Recovery Road

Chapter One: The Search Party

Lloyd's POV

I never expected that I would make friends with the reclusive, volatile girl I saved after she went missing. I never expected that I would be the one who would have the biggest effect on her.

I'm getting ahead of myself, aren't I? Let me back this up a little over two years ago, about three months after we defeated the Overlord. I had been out taking a walk when my phone buzzed; it was a text from Cole.

Nikki just sent me a text, a friend of hers went missing two days ago, volunteer search party is about to go out, you in?

I sent a short reply.

I'm in.

I waited for him to send me the details on where. Ninjago National Park, base is at the east entrance. When I got there, it was chaos, police cars were everywhere, an ambulance was parked by a tent and there were people everywhere. I signed in at a small desk with a clipboard for volunteers. Inside the tent, a brown haired girl was zipping about like she had been living off caffeine for a little too long, a headset wrapped around the back of her head.

"So no sign of Lydia near Spider's Peak?" She said, sticking a red pin in a map. "Alright, go check out the north entrance to the Silent Cavern Zoë and then you can come back to base." The girl tapped her headset again. "No sign with you either Nicole? No Kylie isn't back yet. Hang on, Jane, you found her jacket? Where?!" The girl pulled out a green pushpin and stuck it in the map. She turned around and noticed me.

"Uh…hey, my friend texted me saying you were looking for volunteers? "A smile lit up on her face.

"You can head out with Kylie whenever she gets back, she's going to check out Floodwater crevice, which seems to be our best bet, following the evidence found, the others keep finding small things Lydia must have dropped or lost, her jacket, her headband, my mp player that she borrowed, little things like that." A girl ran inside, dropping a bag on the table.

"Sorry, there was a line at the grocery store and an accident at the intersection-"

"Kylie, you and Lloyd are going to go check out Floodwater Crevice, like, now." The brunet looked at me.

"Uh, no. I'll check it out on my own thanks." As she stormed out, Joy gave a small sheepish smile, handed me a flashlight and a walkie talkie, and I followed after Kylie. About halfway there, we ran into two younger girls, one of them was carrying a blood stained jacket. "That's not-"

"It is."

Kylie took the jacket from the young girl and looked at it; there were tears in the fabric wherever blood seemed to be. "Oh god, no. Please, she's just a kid, let her be alright, let her be alright." She looked at me and then at the jacket, and then the scared kids. "Alright Lloyd, can you go check it out on your own? I'm going to take Jane and Brenna back to base, drop off the jacket, and pray to god Lyd's parents aren't there."

"Yeah, I'll go check it out." We went our separate ways, and as I got closer to the crevice, I saw it, a single, slightly bloody and beat up sneaker on the edge. I pulled out the walkie talkie. "Hey guys, I just found a shoe by the crevice. It's a little worn."

"Describe it Lloyd." Joy said, she was moving around and I heard a car door slam. "Oh shit, it's her mom."

"Bright green converse, blue laced, some doodles on the side."

"That's devinitely Lydia's." from somewhere behind me, I heard a soft moan. "Lloyd, what was that?"

I looked over the edge of the crevice, and relatively far down, was a girl with long blonde hair, definitely injured, and most likely Lydia.

"I think I found her. Blonde hair?"

"Yeah, look, you're at the crevice right? Just hold on, we're sending the medics out to come get her. Hey! Let go of my-"

"Is my baby girl alright?" It was a different person. In the back ground, I could hear joy trying to get her walkie talkie back.

"She's hurt, but I can't tell how badly." The woman sighed. "I'm really sorry."

"I know."

* * *

Three hours later, I was sitting by her bedside, they didn't tell me much, just that she was really sick. That was the biggest understatement ever; she was pale and had a fever so high, touching her was like sticking your hand into a bucket of ice with salt poured on it, dark bags under her eyes, an IV in her right arm, the other arm in a cast. She had broken when she fell down the crevice. Bandages were everywhere and I knew whatever had attacked her had wanted her dead. Suddenly, Lydia started twisting and turning, clenching her eyes shut tightly.

"N-no, l-l-let me go!" her eyes shot open, and they took in everything in the room. Her mother, who had been sitting across from me, held her daughter's hand, whispering something to her. Lydia seemed to relax and fell asleep again quickly. Her mother looked me in the eyes.

"Nightmares. " I saw the tears forming in her eyes. "It's getting late Lloyd, you should go home." I said goodbye and left, not aware of how sick Lydia really was.

**So...what did ya think? I'm almost halfway finished with the next chapter so if you guys like it and leave me a review...I might update soon!**


	2. Chapter 2

**There is some cussing in this chapter. That's all I'm saying.**

**I only own my OC's Ninjago belongs to Lego and whoever else has claim to it.**

Chapter Two: The Outburst

Lloyd's POV

Three weeks had passed and I heard that Lydia was now recovering at her parent's house. I hadn't visited her since the day she woke up; she was still slightly dazed and was having difficulty discerning what was real, and what was not. Her friends kept me informed on how she was, which was how I found myself in Nicole's flat with the others, Noland was patching up a cut on Joy's arm, it was small and it was only because Lydia threw one of the annoyingly glittery get well soon cards at her.

"Lloyd, you did not know Lydia before she got hurt. She has not spoken much to anyone, and she is constantly lashing out at anyone who tries to help her." Zoë said, sitting down next to me, her light colored hair pulled into a simple, neat bun at the back of her head. "Are you entirely sure you want to visit her?"

"I think I can protect myself from get well soon cards." Joy gave me a small glare. "Besides, someone's gotta figure out what happened, and if she won't talk to any of you, maybe she'll talk to me."

"Talk to you about what?" there in the doorway was Lydia, she wasn't as pale, and she had less bandages on her, I could see the bandages that were wrapped around her shoulder, her sweatshirt had slipped off her shoulder. Blood was beginning to seep through the cut there though; it was spreading through the bandage. "Don't even think about it Zoë, I don't need you to change my bandages, I can do it myself!"

"Lydia, what happened to you?" Kylie asked, the blonde girl sat down on the window seat, leaning back into the wall.

"Shit happened. That's all. Mom and dad are _smothering _me, my aunt is constantly trying to get me to talk to her, trying to make me feel normal, _you _guys are bugging me to do what I don't want to and making excuses for me not to do what I want! And _YOU" _She shouted, turning to me. "You had to play hero _again _and save me. You should have left me out there to die. It would have been less painful than this." She touched the wound on her shoulder, wincing slightly. Again? What did she mean by- oh, _that._

It was back when I was a student at Darkley's; they had all of us join a combined choir with the Jezebel Academy girls. A large group of us had gone to play outside one day and she had climbed up on the roof to get the Frisbee they lost, it had snowed the night before and she hit a patch of ice and fell, right before she hit the ground, I caught her.

"Would you have rather me let you fall off the roof?" Her response was a glare, blue eyes blazed with fire. "I caught you and you thanked me when I did, you never seemed to be upset about that!"

"Shut up. All of you just shut up and leave me alone!" she shouted, taking off running.

'Well…that went well."Joy said, grabbing something out of a back pack, a small, green journal. "Now we can see the way her mind works by reading the therapy treatment required emotions journal."

"But Joy, isn't that breaking our code of sisterhood? I remember us all agreeing that if we write anything in a journal or type a private document, the others shall not read it." Joy handed me the notebook. I raised an eyebrow, what in the world was I jumping into helping them, and why do they have a code of sisterhood?

"Yes Zoë, yes it is. That's why Lloyd is going to read it and take notes. We need to see what's making her this pissed off at us and we need to know soon."

**You know the Drill, reviews make me happy, suggestions make me smirk, I love feedback you wonderful readers!**


	3. Chapter 3

**So we're finally getting to see what goes on in Lydia's mind for this chapter. I had fun writing it, and I should have a drawing of the green costume in a few days or so. *scampers off to go draw it***

**I'm also curious if any of you would like to see me try any ninjago ships(I ship anything so ask away and I'll try to write a little short, I'm trying to build my repetoire to get into a writers club at school, they consider fanfics literature.)**

**I only own my OC's Ninjago belongs to Lego and whoever else has claim to it.**

Chapter Three: Light through the Fog

Lydia's POV

When I woke up, it was dark and cold and I knew I was sick.

There were rocks all around me and my hair was covering part of my face. My arm hurt, my ribs hurt, my shoulder hurt, and my head hurt. Everything hurt.

The worst part was the burning fire in my shoulder, it throbbed and I could feel it constantly. A strand of hair brushed against it and the pain became much more intense. I looked up, the sky was dark, but clear at the same time. There were stars twinkling high above me but they looked dim. Everything was colorless.

"H-h-help, p-p-please!" I cried, tears slipping down my face. What had happened?

I closed my eyes, furrowing my brows in concentration. What had happened?

It was during the afternoon, Nikki and Joy had been trying to teach me a complicated routine for five of a Kind, our dance group, they wanted me to have the feature role, but it was hard, I couldn't keep my balance long enough. So I grabbed Joy's mp3, stormed past Zoë and Delia, and took off to the forest.

From high above, Nevermore cawed, that stupid raven, she always hung around wherever we were, she confused me with Zoë most of the time. I was lost. That was what I remember, that and I was balancing on a fallen tree, after doing a front aerial, Joy's mp3 fell out of my pocket, clattering to the ground and skittered under a log. Reaching down to get it, my world erupted in pain; I felt blood sliding down my skin. Everything blurred and I was running, tripping over my shoelaces, at some point, my jacket got caught on something, and not long after, I remember tripping and falling head first.

I drifted in and out of varying stages of consciousness. I was feeling sicker and sicker by the moment, and then, through all the dark, thick and dense fog, I saw light, a hand reaching out to me, checking if I had a pulse, I tried to speak, but I couldn't form the words. I slid into a deep sleep, waking up with my mother beside me, her red hair streaked with gray falling out of the neat braid she usually wore.

Mom and dad would have hushed conversations with my aunt and sometimes with someone over the phone, always shutting up when I was near. They told me nothing about what had happened, yet they kept asking me what had happened.

I went back to the dance studio, hiding in the costume and prop house. My hand ghosted over my favorite two of the costumes I had ever worn, the black and navy one from _Reflections _and the green one with gold trim from the dance we did at the street fair last month.

"You okay Lydia?" I saw Delia standing in the doorway, a box of wand props in her arms.

"No. No I'm not. I'm sick of everyone treating me like a child! They dance around me like I'm my aunt's tea pot about to fall off the counter!" Delia was like a child getting lectured while their favorite show was on. Rage bubbled up to the surface like an ugly poison. I took the box from her and threw it to the ground, cardboard bent at the corners, silver plastic sticks with colorful ribbons were flung across the floor. "Even you!" I pushed her out and slammed the door shut, locking the dead bolt. The rage had gone away, leaving me drained with exhaustion. I slid down the door, tears dripped down onto the floor.

"Why me?" I whispered, looking up at the ceiling. "What did I do?"

**You know the Drill, reviews make me happy, suggestions make me smirk, I love feedback you wonderful readers!**


	4. Chapter 4

**So****...watched the most disturbing television show last night because my mother and I couldn't find the remote...Double Divas(demographic is probably men...)**

**Don't worry your little heads over the fact that Lloyd is the only ninja in here so far...they should arrive in like...2-3 chapters. Right now, we have Nikki and the others trying to piece together what happened to Lydia**

**I'm also curious if any of you would like to see me try any ninjago ships(I ship anything so ask away and I'll try to write a little short, I'm trying to build my repetoire to get into a writers club at school, they consider fanfics literature.)**

**I only own my OC's Ninjago belongs to Lego and whoever else has claim to it.**

Chapter Four: The Canvas and Music of the Night

Lloyd's POV

A week passed and all I could get out of the journal was that she couldn't figure out what was going on, there had been several entries ranging from a year up until the day she went missing.

_Dear Journal, _

_Everything is falling apart slowly, I'm scared and the only song I can hear is _I Don't Wanna Be Me, _By Amanda Clemens._ _Every little thing has the others on edge. A plate slips out of my fingers when I was washing it and Nikki runs into the kitchen like I screamed fire.'_

There's another, this one dated a few days after the battle.

_Hey Journal,_

_I'm finally living with mom and dad, everything's so…weird. It's like something out of a bad sitcom. Mom's trying to make a routine, and figure out what's going to happen, I've spent most of the past three days with dad in the depths of the museum, I've helped out a lot in the gift shop, keeping the shelves organized._

The one that seemed to stand out the most wasn't actually a journal it was more like a poem, and was dated from about two weeks ago.

_I'm in the sewers under the opera house_

_And I'm moving like a mouse_

_I'm repeating the past_

_And I know this poison is fast_

_The substance of nightmares_

_Yet it seems that no one cares_

_I'll hide the truth behind a mask_

_And set my heart on my solemn task_

"So…she's just lonely and confused? That doesn't make much sense, she knows we're here for her!"

Nikki looked at the jacket, a sewing needle left abandoned in her hand. She lifted her head up and held the jacket up to the light.

"Hey Zoë, come check this out." She got up from the window, a single black feather in hand, and crossed over to the table where Nikki had the objects Lydia had lost when she went missing, minus Joy's mp3, it was as though she was looking for something.

"Something bit her." Zoë said, fingers gently tracing the shoulder of the small gray jacket. "Perhaps a snake or lizard, possibly the Ninjago Rot Snake, they like to hide under decomposing organic matter, Joy's mp3 was found near a fallen tree so that is a likely possibility."

"I guess, it's a pretty large bite though." The door to Nikki's flat was thrown open, Lydia stood in the doorway, eyes trained on me.

"You!" she said, storming over, something was…different about her. She snatched the journal out of my hand. "I should have known not to trust a _ninja._" She looked at the earmarked pages. Shit, if she was mad before, she was pissed now. "You read my personal, private journal. How the hell did you-"She looked at Joy who chose then to do a flip off the back of the couch, effectively hiding from Lydia's rage. "God damn it Joy, you let a boy read my journal of all the things in the world my_ journal_?!"

"Well you weren't answering us!"

"Maybe its cause I DON'T KNOW!" she ripped her jacket out of Nikki's grip, pushed Zoë aside and started running.

"Well, that didn't go as planned. Time for plan B."

"B?" I asked, they had a backup plan?

"Time for us to see who her parents have been talking to. They seem to know more than they're letting on." Joy pulled a small object out of her bag. "All I need is for Zoë to place this on the bottom of the phone and it'll send the numbers of every phone call made within a set period of time straight to my computer."

"Why Zoë?" I asked, looking at the slightly clueless blonde girl.

"Because Lyd's parents trust Zoë and Zoë is really good at being sneaky." Kylie said with a smirk. "Besides, Lydia's mom hates me; I wouldn't make it to the front door."

**You know the Drill, reviews make me happy, suggestions make me smirk, I love feedback you wonderful readers!**

**So I Don't Wanna Be Me By Amanda Clemmens is a wonderful song...slightly sad..fits right in with Lydia's playlist for the story**

**1) Run by Snow Patrol**

**2) Masquerade Phantom of the Opera**

**3) Perfect by Pink**

**4) I Don't wanna Be me by Amanda Clemmens**

**I'll add to the list as the story progresses.**


	5. Chapter 5

**So****...I'm back! I'm surprised no one has made any mention that they think they know the full story behind Lydia's injury...heck, I'm even shocked at what my twisted mind came up with**

**In reply to Thorn, yeah, Lydia's life is pretty screwed up right now...she might be as equally messed up as you...maybe a little more. BTW Thorn, you influenced one of the characters for the next story in my other series, just letting you know... **

**I only own my OC's Ninjago belongs to Lego and whoever else has claim to it.**

Chapter Five: Changing Myself

Lydia's POV

I ran, my feet getting caught on the gnarled roots of the forest. My bag held everything I needed to disappear from sight.

Climbing up into a tree that overlooked a river, I pulled the scissors out of my bag. Pulling my ponytail loose, I flipped all my hair over my head and began to snip away. I didn't care how it looked, just as long as it wasn't the same.

The sun bounced off each individual strand as it twisted its way down to the ground, landing in the dirt where the sun's rays did not reach. Dead and lifeless strands of who I used to be.

When dusk had settled with dark purple and black inky streaks in a darkening sky, I pulled out the final piece of the new me, something so no one would know it was me. a simple black hooded mask, the hood would cover my hair until I could find some hair dye. I felt like someone out of a comic book.

The city was lit up by lantern; it was the annual masquerade, the perfect time to try out the disguise. The others would be there, performing, our group wasn't complete right now, but they'd find a replacement. I wasn't that good anyway.

I had tied the green sash from my costume around my waist, a stark contrast to the black. Immediately I ran into a certain blonde haired girl I hoped to avoid. Zoë was right there, her blonde hair pulled into a bun, a simple black mask with some black feathers around it, sticking up like the plume on Nevermore's head. She looked in my eyes and a smile grew on her face.

"Hello Lydia, what a wonderful costume!" she reached out to hug me, but I pushed her away, running deeper into the crowd. I slipped past people like a shadow, they didn't seem to notice me, when I ran into Kylie, and she was talking into her phone.

"So wait, Lydia is here?" she looked right at me and once again, I took off into the crowd, stopping only when I had reached an alleyway. My shoulder was burning, they probably all knew what I looked like by now, they probably were calling my parents now, letting them know where I was.

In my pocket, I felt my phone start buzzing. Someone had sent me a text message.

Three blocks south then take a right, there should be a small shop that sells costumes and hair dye. See you soon Lydia.

I saw Joy and Zoë walking around, the dark black of Zoë's costume looked odd on her, she usually wore light colors, dark shades always made her look like a ghost, she was so pale anyways, her skin and hair looked pure white next to all of the black. Joy was wearing a white mask with blue lines criss-crossing all over it. She was wearing one of her fashion statement outfits, the ones that Kylie always said belonged on a stage at a pop concert, an electric blue top, white skirt and black boots. The red barrette was in her short amber brown hair, keeping her bangs out of her eyes.

Running through the crowd, I felt a hand brush my shoulder, the one that had been bitten, flipping backwards, landing crouched down, ready to strike, I felt the wind blow through my hair…wait a second, I shouldn't be able to feel the wind. Shit. I couldn't find my hood. Looking up, I looked at the person who had lightly touched my shoulder. Double shit.

Standing in front of me was Lloyd.

"Lydia? Where the heck did you go? Everyone was looking-"I silenced him with the heel of my foot, making him stumble back. Twirling around, I kept heading in the direction of the small costume shop. "Lydia wait!"

**You know the Drill, reviews make me happy, suggestions make me smirk, I love feedback you wonderful readers!**


	6. Chapter 6

**So****...I'm back! This chapter is probably the longest so far... I've had some writers block on Reign of the Snake King...so I'm going to focus on this for a little while.**

**I only own my OC's Ninjago belongs to Lego and whoever else has claim to it.**

Chapter Six: The Ugly Truth

I was shitty.

I was an abomination.

I was the consequence of the replay button.

I was the exception to the rule; what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

I was nothing.

So why did they keep looking at everyone hoping it was me? Two years ago they could hardly stand being in the same room as me. I wasn't worth their time or effort,_ he _told me so, and yet, they still were looking for me.

Six months had passed since I was found half comatose in the crevice, the scars had begun to fade, two bright reddish pink circles surrounded by pale flesh. I watched from the window as Zoë placed the tracer on my parent's phone, a little green light indicated it was working. She sat at the table with my parents and my aunt Li, telling them that they had found no signs of me anywhere for the past month. I had fallen out of a tree one night, and nearly was in Nevermore's line of sight, but even then, the dark clothes I wore made it hard to see me.

What I found to be the worst part was that Lloyd had convinced the ninja to help look for me, now I could hardly go to the market, or Popper's Creek, the costume store that would send me messages whenever something arrived for me, without nearly being caught. My mother looked up from her tea cup and looked right at me, she saw me. Zoë instantly was running towards the door, flying out of the house, she wrapped her arms around me.

"Lydia! You are alright!" my parents looked at me with warm smiles on their faces. What had they been told? That I was fine and was just rooming with Jane back at Jezebel Academy? I didn't answer them, just looked down at my feet. Life was a circle, you start going one way and you'll end up right back where you started. "Lydia, I want to talk to you, alone." My mother said, pushing a strand of her graying auburn hair out of her eyes. She grabbed my wrist and led me into the garden behind our house. We sat down on the bench that was at the edge of the garden, underneath the willow tree, lights danced in the small creek that ran through the backyard.

Slowly, as though she was trying not to startle a small animal (the way she _didn't _when I was five and there was a squirrel on my head…but that's another story), mom pulled my hood and mask away. She sighed deeply and traced the lines in it. "It's all my fault you know." She looked me in the eyes and I couldn't look away, her light brown eyes always made it difficult to look away. She looked back down at the mask. "It is, honestly. If I had been able to take care of you, I wouldn't have had to leave you with my sister, who let you join Five Of A Kind without knowing all of the risks, you ended up breaking your ankle when you landed the wrong way, you got mad because you couldn't do something so you took off and got hurt." Tears began to fall from her eyes, just like they had that one time… "It's entirely my fault. I'm sorry."

Anger began to bubble up and my vision darkened and became red with hatred.

"No." I said, my voice was hardly above a whisper. She reached for my arm and I snatched it out of her reach and struck out at her, hitting the side of her head, and another blow landed on her nose, blood staining my hand. "It was never your fault." The anger disappeared and I realized what I had done, I hurt my mother, she had tried to protect me for the past year and a half and this was how I betrayed her. What Kylie said to me that first day was right; all I ever caused was pain to those around me.

Turning on the balls of my feet, I ran, trees flew past me and I knew that if I stopped, they'd find me. Not my parents, not the police, not my aunt, not my "sisters". That voice would. The voice I kept hearing in my dreams, my nightmares. The one who told me that he had chosen me for a reason, the one that told me I was capable of so much.

The one who told me that he would never leave me alone; he told me how he would look for me every day for the rest of my life, that voice. He told me that if I kept refusing him, he would slowly drive me insane, and then he would use me. He said he could help me, that he could stop my pain.

Right now, relief from this hell I plunged myself into sounded really, really good.

* * *

Lloyd's POV

I woke up to the sound of the phone ringing. Picking it up, I rubbed at my eyes, clearing the sleep from them. "Hello, Garmadon residence."

"Lloyd?" I immediately was awake. How did Joy get me number?

"Yeah…" I said walking into the kitchen, pulling a bowl out of the cabinet and placing it on the counter. I walked over to the pantry and pulled out a box of cereal. "What's up? Find anything out through the phone bug?"

"Yeah, your phone number was called the most, Zoë went to talk with Lydia's parents last night and Lydia was there for a short amount of time, her mom went in the backyard to talk to Lydia but she lashed out and hurt her mom. No one's seen Lydia since." She took a deep breath and I could imagine Joy pinching the bridge of her nose. "Look, can you meet up at Nikki's place at noon? I want to show what Zoë and I found out using the phone bug…hopefully Zoë will show up by then." Looking at the clock, I saw that it was already ten in the morning.

"Wait, Zoë's missing?"

"She woke me up at like…seven in the morning saying she thinks she had a lead on her family. Look, it's a long story but basically, she woke up in the middle of nowhere and all she knew was that her name was Zoë and that she was alone. Alright, I'm going to go…I have a few more numbers to call before noon, trying to see if there are any connections. Bye Lloyd!"

**So...anyone wondering what Zoë's up to? What about Lydia? What did Lydia's mom(Annie) mean about what happened being her fault? Anyone else wondering about the Squirrel incident?**

**Fun Fact(I'm going to put these at the end of most chapters from now on): In my original draft, Zoë was linked to a murder case.**

**You know the Drill, reviews make me happy, suggestions make me smirk, I love feedback you wonderful readers!**


	7. Chapter 7

**So****...I'm back! This chapter is probably the longest so far... I've had some writers block on Reign of the Snake King...so I'm going to focus on this for a little while.**

**I only own my OC's Ninjago belongs to Lego and whoever else has claim to it.**

Recovery Road

Chapter Seven: I Can Never Go Home

Lydia's POV

_"You're miserable here, why is that?" _He asked, circling around me, it had been a week since I hurt my mother and I knew that she would not recognize me anymore. My hair was now in a pixie cut that highlighted the sharp angles of my face. It wasn't blonde anymore…well, only at the tips, but even then it was getting darker by the day.

"You know why, I miss my old life, the one where I was normal, you know, the one that _your_ brilliant plan screwed up." I looked out at the dark shore; the water glittered under the light from the full moon. "You know what, I don't care what you want, and you can try to drive me insane to the point of suicide. I don't give a damn anymore. If the poison is slowly going to kill me, fine. At least then I'll be free from you." As I got up and started to head back towards home, I felt a light, tingly sensation deep inside me. The further I walked, the stronger it got and it quickly became painful, like someone had set fire to my insides. One step, I was struggling, another, the pain intensified, and with one more step I was on my hands and knees. I tried to crawl away, and the fire reached a new intensity, like I had been thrown into a volcano and then dumped into a frozen pond. My black bangs fell into my line of vision, obscuring the bright, white moon. My breath was labored and uneven, everything was sideways, or maybe it was just me.

_"You are never going to go back Lydia, they'll lock you up in an institution, and they'll hate you. You hurt your own mother; you betrayed the trust of your friends. But don't fret." _He brushed my bangs out of my face, and I knew he was right. _"Besides, all I want is to help you right the wrongs someone made."_

I took a deep, shuddery breath. "Whose wrongs am I righting then?"

He leaned down close to my ear, even though we were the only ones around for miles. _"Lloyd Garmadon's."_ I closed my eyes and felt a single tear slide down my cheek. Life's a bitch, Lloyd saved my life, what did he do? _"He ruined everything Lydia; it's his entire fault anyway. If he had just stayed down when he was hurt and accepted defeat, you wouldn't have had to go through all of this pain."_

* * *

Lloyd's POV

_One week ago, Nikki's apartment._

"Wait, can you go over that connection again Joy, I want to make sure I totally understand what you're saying."Noland, Kylie's older brother, asked, holding up a notebook which he had written down most of the connections that Joy had just said, Joy smiled and pushed a piece of her hair behind her ear.

"Sure Noland, so Zoë was at Lydia's house when she noticed a high school yearbook, upon closer inspection, she took note of the year and reported back to me. I looked up that yearbook and found a copy of it in the school library, both Lydia's mom and her aunt were attending school at that time, about two years apart. The thing was, so did Lloyd's dad and his uncle."

"Go on…" Kylie said, rotating her wrist in a circular motion, gesturing for her to get to the point.

"Well, that year there had been a superlative for siblings who were polar opposites, and all four of them were in the picture." Nikki, who had been balancing her pencil on her finger hit the end of it and sent it flying across the room.

"So what, they just felt like reconnecting with high school friends? I don't think so, there has to be something we're overlooking. God I wish Zoë was here, she'd find some miniscule detail we're just skipping over and make us all feel stupid." Nikki said, leaning back in her computer chair, one foot hooked onto the underside of the table.

"Perhaps what you are overlooking is in history. Both Garmadon and Annie got very ill at a young age." Nikki's foot slipped and she fell backwards, hitting her head on the floor, in the doorway was Zoë, her light grey sweatshirt was torn in some places.

"Hey Zoë, did you find anything out on your family?" The blonde girl shook her head.

"Unfortunately, it was just like the others, a dead end." Kylie put a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry Zoë, we'll find them eventually." Zoë gave a small smile and nodded, looking out the window, sitting on the fire escape was that raven, Nevermore. The raven turned its head to the side and took off, flying into the afternoon sky. "Now, if you sit down, we need to figure out where Lydia is."

* * *

Lydia's POV Present Day

My aunt has told me multiple times that insanity is doing the same thing over and over the exact same way and expecting a different result. I wasn't insane was I? I mean sure my life is sucky, I'm hearing voices and the one person I've been talking to isn't really a person at all, but that doesn't make me crazy for trying to get away from him, does it?

Apparently so, because that was how I found myself running through the forest in the middle of the night, ignoring the burning fire inside me. I could see lights in the distance; they were the hope that kept me going. I was running and running and the fire kept blazing. It was too much; I fell not too far from the lights.

Hands, they rolled me over and pushed my hair out of my face, someone picked me up, talking to me or maybe someone else. I couldn't understand what they were saying.

I closed my eyes and embraced the silent darkness of sleep as the fire suddenly stopped.

**So, who saved Lydia? Is she alright? Why do _YOU _think I titled the next chapter Someone to Talk To?**

**Fun Fact: In the original cast of OC's for this story, Lydia did not actually exist, that's why she never got a back ground oneshot in I don't know how I know you.**

**You know the Drill, reviews make me happy, suggestions make me smirk, I love feedback you wonderful readers!**


	8. Chapter 8

**So****...I've had some interesting conversations with Thorn and his author Bubba over the past few days...**

**I only own my OC's Ninjago belongs to Lego and whoever else has claim to it.**

Recovery Road

Chapter Eight: Someone to Talk To

Lydia's POV

When I woke up, I knew he wasn't around, but the fire wasn't burning.

Sunlight filtered through light blue curtains as I sat up, someone had tended to the small burns and cuts on my arms and there was a blanket draped over me. Why would someone have taken the time to care for me? I wasn't worth someone's time. They had even cleaned out the small cuts and bandaged the burns that decorated my hands and arms.

The blanket was slightly worn out and a faded color that might have been blue and fluffy at one point. Whoever saved me had placed me gently on a patched up tan couch at some point, they had to have been careful, I was the lightest sleeper in the world apparently.

Slowly I swung my legs over the side of the couch, in another room; I could hear someone talking to someone. I slid my bare feet over the floor cautiously; I didn't know these people so why should I trust them? For the first time in almost a year, I felt warm, and not so afraid.

A floorboard creaked and I threw myself flat against the wall, letting out a small hiss of pain as a particularly painful burn had been pressed against the solid structure. When I realized no one was coming to hurt me, I continued walking toward the voice, slowly peeking my head around the corner, I saw a girl with dark hair looking at pictures of missing kids on a computer with a boy who had slightly reddish brown hair like Joy.

"Jay, none of these pictures match that girl at all." She flicked right onto my picture, pausing for a moment, tilting her head to the side. "Lydia Grenlyn…hey Jay, look, she has the same facial features, and there's that small scar under her left eye." The boy, Jay I assumed, leaned over the girl's shoulder and nodded. As I took another small step forward, I didn't notice the power cord for the laptop was right in front of me and my foot caught on it, tripping me. When I hit the floor, they both turned around.

"Umm….hi." I said, pushing myself off of the floor.

* * *

Zoë's POV

Looking in the mirror, the blonde ballerina stared back at me with bright blue eyes; a single lock of light blonde hair had drifted out of place. She began to dance, her toes pointed and her head held high. The dancer's motion stopped with the last note of the music. There was a flash of motion in the mirror and standing in the doorway was Nicole. She was leaning against the door frame, one hand rubbing sleep out of her left eye.

"Couldn't sleep Zoë?" I grabbed my water bottle and nodded, taking a small sip and smiling internally at the crisp, clear taste. "You keep doing this, waking up in the middle of the night, coming down here and practicing your solo for the recital that's three weeks away." She touched my shoulder, a sleepy smile on her face.

"It is just a small case of insomnia Nicole, I am fine." My dark haired friend gave me a glare and took the remote to the CD player out of my hand. She turned off the music and placed the remote on the shelf. "Alright, I will try to get some sleep." I followed Nicole out of the studio and climbed back up the stairs to the room that we shared. As I climbed onto the top bunk, I remembered why I had been having trouble sleeping. The bed directly beneath mine was empty, just like it had been for several months now. I had not yet adapted to the new, quieter, night time noises. Rolling over onto my back, I stared up at the ceiling and did not notice my eyes beginning to close from exhaustion.

The next thing I knew, Kylie was speaking to me, a pillow smacked my face. "C'mon Zoë, it's time to wake up, Li wanted us in the studio like…five minutes ago." Getting up, I followed Kylie downstairs to the studio, perched in the window sill was an unfamiliar bird of prey; it turned its head my way much like Nevermore would. As we walked past it, the bird took off into the early morning sky.

**Well...this gave us an insight to Zoë's little interesting mind...and we know that Lydia's in good hands now. If you guys review enough, you'll get to learn why I have Joy singing BFB(Best Friend's Brother)...but that's quite a ways down de road.**

**Fun Fact: While Kylie is actually Noland's younger sister, she's really protective of her brother.**

**You know the Drill, reviews make me happy, suggestions make me smirk, I love feedback you wonderful readers!**


	9. Chapter 9

**I drew a crud load of stuff recently, that's why this update took so long! I have a crud load of stuff planned for this story, and let's just say that Zoë isn't gonna like it.**

**I only own my OC's Ninjago belongs to Lego and whoever else has claim to it.**

Recovery Road

Chapter Nine: Who Am I?

Lydia's POV

"Hi…mind telling us your name?" The boy asked, helping me up.

"My name's Mavis." I lied, cool as ice. I was an okay liar and here was my proof. "Who are you?" I sat down at the small table, immediately crossing my ankles and placing my bandaged hand and wrists in my lap, trying to seem innocent. The boy didn't seem to buy it, he crossed his arms over his chest and I looked down at my hands. _I really need to clean my nails soon, there's so much dirt underneath them._

"What happened to you?" I looked up at the boy, and prayed to god that he couldn't tell when someone was lying.

"I-I-I ran away from home. I just didn't belong anymore." Well, it was a half-truth; I didn't feel like I belonged anymore. The looks they gave me prompted me to continue. "No, really, that's all there was to it. _Besides, you'd send me to a Looney-bin if I told you I was hearing voices telling me what to do next. _

"Alright," the girl said, standing up. "I'm not going to push it, but if you want to tell anything, I'll listen." She grabbed the wrist of the brown haired boy, Jay. "We'll be right back." When they left the room, I could hear them talking and the sounds of someone dialing a phone number. As I crept to the doorway, I listened in.

"Yes Mrs. Grenlyn, we think we've found her, she doesn't match the description though, her hair is really short and pitch black. Alright, we'll be ready to see you. Good bye." They hung up the phone and suddenly it was like I couldn't breathe. They had called my _mother._ She would hate me, I knew she would. _I hurt her. _She wouldn't love me. She couldn't love me.

I looked around the small kitchen and grabbed a knife, crossing over to one of the small windows, I stuck it in the lock, breaking it so the window opened. Climbing on top of a small stool, I climbed out, taking the knife with me. As I ran, I knew I had made the right choice running away. After all, who could love something as horrible as me.

* * *

Joy's POV

When Kylie and Zoë finally got into the studio, I could hardly keep the smirk off of my face.

"Well look who finally decided to wake up. Morning sleeping beauty, morning ugly troll." I nodded at Zoë and Kylie. Nikki hit my shoulder. "Ow, what was that for?"

"One, for calling Zoë a troll, two, for making me play I spy with you while we waited for them."

"Hey, I called Kylie the troll!" Zoë pulled her hair into a neat bun without a single bobby pin, well, almost perfect, there was this one piece of hair that always fell right between her eyes, she blew it off of her face. "Hey Zoë, what were you dreaming about?" I asked, looking at my friend as the four of us lined up at the bar Nikki and I had moved to the center of the studio. She stood on the opposite side with Nikki; Kylie stood behind me and kicked my butt. Payback.

"Dreaming?" If Li hadn't been looking right at me, I would have face palmed and kicked Kylie back as we turned the other way. "Oh, give me a minute to remember." She pirouetted in place with the rest of us, and stopped herself without even a tiny bobble. "I was sitting at a table with three other people. Two males and a girl. One of the males was about the age I am now, the girl was much older, and the man was reaching an old age, he seemed to be arguing with the girl, and the other boy tapped my shoulder and led me outside. We both were running, but when I turned around, I was alone." We finished our stretches, Kylie and Zoë moved the bar off to the side, and Zoë continued talking. "Then everything changed, the girl was dragging me away from the boy, he was chasing after us, shouting something. I felt _something _hit the back of my head, and then I was where I was when I woke up, alone in the forest with Nevermore flying by me."

The three of us nodded as the music started. I fell into my part of the piece, mimicking every move Zoë did just three beats after she did it, Nikki did the same with me, and Kylie would do every move I did six beats after me.

It felt nice to be ahead of her for once.

* * *

Zoë's POV

After we had ran through all of our routines and our solos, we were allowed to take an hour for a break, that was how I found myself sitting on a swing in the empty park, cool air blew by me, whipping my hair around.

"Tough day?" A woman asked as she sat down in the swing next to be, taking out a cigarette, she offered me one and I shook my head. She shoved the box into her purse and tossed it towards the supporting beam of the swing set. She had long brown hair that covered her eyes.

"I do not smoke, but no, I just have a lot on my mind." Leaning back, she kicked off of the ground, swinging back and forth gently. The lady blew out a puff of smoke and I held my breath as it went right into my face.

"Maybe you should talk about it, my dad always said I was a good listener, the name's Jennifer by the way." She shot me a small smile, holding the cigarette loftily in her right hand.

"Zoë, I am Zoë." Pushing my feet off of the loosely packed sand, I went backwards, swinging my legs to propel myself higher into the air. It was as close to flying as I would ever get. Behind me, I heard a small cough and a shriek accompanied by a loud snap of a tree branch breaking. My eyes widened at what they saw.

A girl dressed entirely in black with brutally choppy ink black hair, and big blue eyes. She was clutching at her knee, and when she removed her hands, I saw the knee of her pants was torn and blood was trickling down her leg, staining the dark fabric. Jumping off the swing, I touched the girl gently on her shoulder. She looked at me with a familiar face full of shock and hatred.

"Lydia?"

**Well, how's that for interesting?**

**Fun Fact: Each member of Five of a Kind has a small pin which I drew on Kylie in a picture on my DeviantART titled Kylie's Tears Of Anger.**

**You know the Drill, reviews make me happy, suggestions make me smirk, I love feedback you wonderful readers!**


	10. Chapter 10

**I only own my OC's Ninjago belongs to Lego and whoever else has claim to it.**

Recovery Road

Chapter Ten: Medicine and Official Letters

Lydia's POV

After I allowed Zoë to take me back home, I burst into tears when I saw my dad's relived face, the tears fell onto the shoulder of his shirt which smelled slightly like dust and old things. "'m sorry dad." I said; my voice was thick with tears which would soon turn into small hiccups. There was a large band aid on my knee, and the antibacterial cream was stinging a little bit, but I didn't care.

The door flung itself open and I saw mom standing there, tears streaming down her smiling face. I got up to go give her a hug, slightly limping because of my bruised ankle. She smoothed down my ugly hair and I could tell by her shaky breaths that she was crying too. "Lydia, my sweet baby girl, I could never hate you. It wasn't your fault, please believe me sweetie it really isn't." part of me said it was just a trick, a way for them to gain my trust before they'd lock me up, but the other part knew that they were genuinely caring about me. My mom sat me down at the kitchen island, pulling an old metal tin down from the cupboard. Placing a spoonful of a grayish white powder into each mug of warm water, I knew it was instant tea.

"I used to drink this when I was younger; my mother said it always seemed to calm me down."My mother said, taking a small sip of the tea. I took a sip and I could see why, it was sweet, and sour in perfect harmony. In the back of my mind, the warm tea tasted slightly like that hard candy Jane had given me one day at school, the green one that was really sour at first, but quickly became sweet once you gave it a chance. "I found out that it chases away the voices Lydia." I put the mug down on the counter and put a hand to my mouth. How did she know about the voices?!

I struggled to swallow, as that one damned voice was telling me it was a trick to lock me up, but when I did, I found my mother had walked out of the room, coming back with a small caramel colored box that someone might keep scrapbooks in. As she opened it, I saw a picture I remember my aunt having framed on the wall, in the middle was my mom, her hair blowing in the wind, on her right was my dad, and on the left was aunt Li. They all were laughing together and my dad was pointing at something off camera. She pulled out a journal that was still wrapped in the plastic it must have came in. the cover was a dark purple with what looked like and embossed gold dragon in the center of the inky purple. She handed me the journal.

"Lydia, it helps if you write down what you feel, every nightmare, every word you hear from the voices, it really will help you." I pulled my hairclip out and made a small slice in the plastic which peeled away easily.

"Thank you." I said, my fingers absently tracing over the dragon. I quickly walked up to my room and closed the door behind me. I pulled my laptop off of my desk and sat on my bed, the fluffy cream colored blanket tickling my feet as I balanced the laptop on my knees, the startup screen came on and I typed my password in. immediately I was greeted by a picture of the five of us, Kylie was using my head as an armrest while Zoë, Joy and Nikki stood together, making imaginary guns with their fingers. I clicked on the internet icon and the Five Of A Kind website popped up, I was already logged in, and a bright blue window popped up.

User: **Joy Wyler(site admin)** has invited you to join in a Stream-Screen starting in: **5 minutes, 48 seconds. **Do you accept?

I clicked the button that said yes and Grabbed my microphone headset, plugging it into my laptop.

"Hey chickadee!" Kylie said as my screen did its five way split. "Zoë's on her way back so she might be a little late. Good to see you again Lyd." Joy's face popped up next to mine. "Ugh. It's you." Kylie said, wrinkling her nose. The poked at the sides of their bubbles, as though trying to stab each other. Nikki appeared on screen right below them. She looked up and shook her head.

"Grow up you two." A countdown appeared on screen and right as it hit one, Zoë popped into her space. "Ello wonderful people who are deciding to watch, I'm Nikki, to my right is Zoë, above her is Joy, next to Joy is Kylie and next to Kylie is a familiar face, please welcome back the one and only Lydia Grenlyn!" I waved and in the side bar where people asked their questions, I saw a wall of people saying one word.

**LIAR**

"No guys, it's really me." I said, smiling at them, making my nose crinkle up slightly. They still didn't believe me. "Alright, ask something only I would know."

**How? We hardly know you.**

**What the Hell happened to you? Where's the long blonde hair?**

**Look who dragged in a Nikki look alike. Sorry kid, we aren't fooled that easily.**

**Okay then, who saved you from the fire during your audition. I heard this straight from the firemen, they said that someone saved you, who was it?**

"Kylie saved me from the fire, and the idiot actually burned her wrist and singed off her left eyebrow." I received a glare from Kylie, but comments started flooding in saying that they were so surprised about my new look, and how they had missed me.

**So Lydia, didja come up with any new solos while you were away?**

**Heard word you're gonna be the face for Delia's dance studio this year. Care to confirm?**

**What's the next song you're going to sing?**

**Are you okay, you seem…different.**

"Uh, I didn't really think much about the group actually, and I haven't heard that rumor about me and the studio…I'm alright, I'm taking medications and should be fine." Nikki looked at me, and then at her screen.

"Lydia, it's a good thing your hair grows insanely fast, I'm pretty sure black _still _isn't your color." Nikki said, rolling her eyes.

* * *

_Several Days Later, Five AM_

Lydia's POV

My life began to take a routine again, instead of waking up at seven-thirty, having breakfast with my sisters and then heading into the studio to rehearse, I woke up around seven and would get ready to walk there. I would spend the morning there, come home for lunch and to take my medication, Around four-thirty, I'd go back and work with Delia in some of her younger classes, trying to keep Brenna and Jane from disrupting their modern dance class. After that, I'd go home and spend the rest of the night with my parents.

So when my cell phone decided to wake me up at five am because someone was calling, I wasn't too happy.

"Hello?" I asked, slowly stretching my arms and legs as I cradled the phone between my ear and shoulder.

"Lydia, look I know it's early, but we need you down at the studio, pronto. Zoë's gone MIA again." Joy said, I could hear arguing in the background, Nikki must have been trying to wake Kylie up.

"What?" I asked, suddenly wide awake. "How do you know she didn't just go on one of her late night strolls?" I turned my lamp on and slid my feet into my black canvas slip on shoes and grabbed my patched up jacket.

"Because she left a note saying she thinks she knows something, and she left her group pin."

"Shit, you are serious." I took the stairs in my house two at a time, as I walked into the kitchen to grab something to eat before I left, slunk past my parents who had been kissing, both mumbling an apology for scarring me for life, grabbed a pop tart, and ran out the door. "I'm on the way."

**Oh no! Where oh where did Zoe go?(I know where...Thorn and Bubba probably can guess)**

**That thing with Lydia's parents making out in the kitchen happened to me once...**

**Fun Fact: Lydia's best friends Jane and Brenna are known trouble makers and the three of them were known as the Trinnian Trio at Jezebel academy(a reference to the St. Trinnian's movie)**

**You know the Drill, reviews make me happy, suggestions make me smirk, I love feedback you wonderful readers!**


	11. Chapter 11

**I only own my OC's Ninjago belongs to Lego and whoever else has claim to it.**

Recovery Road

Chapter Eleven: At a Certain Frequency

Zoë's POV

I knew I should have left a better explanation, but something about my dream made it clear to me that I needed to go back to where I woke up.

As I walked towards the edge of town, Nevermore landed on my shoulder.

"No, I want you to stay behind." She took off, flying back towards the studio. As I marched closer towards the hill I had fallen down, I realized I wasn't alone. There was an old black car slowly following me. My mind was screaming at me to get out of there. I was at the base of the hill and the car stopped. A person stepped out of the car, and from where I stood, I could not see any details about them.

"Stay away from me." I shouted, but the person just kept walking towards me, I tried to move, to run away from this strange person, but I couldn't move a muscle. It was like someone had paralyzed me. I saw the person playing with a small metal object in their hand. "Someone help me!" I shouted, as they were now only ten feet away, brown hair trailed out from under a black hoodie. I knew this person.

The closer she got, the more I felt terror welling up inside me. I couldn't move, my vision was darkening, and everything sounded like it was underwater. Everything cleared for a moment, and I saw Nevermore overhead. The person was standing right in front of me now, a roll of duct tape around her wrist as though it was a blanket. In her hands was a small metal box which she opened and pulled out what appeared to be grey ear buds that would wrap around the ear.

"It's amazing what thirty-three years of being overshadowed by you and your brother can lead to. I believe father would be proud to see what I have created just for the two of you." She said as she wrapped them around my ears and inserted them. I looked her in the eyes and I knew she was not entirely _there._ They fit perfectly though, as though they were made for me. She pulled out another object, a remote of sorts, and hit a lemon yellow button.

If I could have moved, I would have writhed around in pain. They flooded my ears with an unwavering, high-pitched note. Everything hurt, I couldn't see, couldn't breathe, couldn't scream.

I felt a tear slid down my face and embraced the darkness that followed. It was painless and silent there.

* * *

Lydia's POV

"No Nikki, there's not a single lock that could keep Zoë from escaping if she got kidnapped." Joy said, for the past hour she and Nikki and Kylie had been going over 'what if's' for what could have happened. I was sitting outside on the fire escape, the window wide open. Below, there were people heading off to their normal day jobs, some parents walking into the small bookshop looking for a book, a bright yellow school bus picked up several small kids anxiously waiting to go to school.

"Yeah, Joy's right, remember when we accidentally locked her in the car trunk? She got out in less than two minutes. She can't understand the concept of April fool's day, but she does calculus like it's two plus two." I could feel them looking at me, and I ignored them, staring at the cold, lifeless colored grey sky. God, I just wanted to scream that sitting here waiting for the police to take us seriously that she's missing wasn't going to help us, but instead I bit my tongue and watched the people pass below me.

I closed my eyes and leaned against the brick wall.

_"You know, it's all your fault she's gone." _My eyes shot open I thought that stupid tea was supposed to ward off the voices. _"I'm not going anywhere soon Lydia…but you are." _My limbs moved against my own accord. _"You're going far away, somewhere your parents cannot interfere." _The fire in my body was back, pain ripping throughout all of my nerves, it all seemed to flood from the scars of the bite on my shoulder.

"No." I said, pressing myself flat against the wall, regaining control of myself. "I'm not going anywhere." He grumbled something about how he should have hit me when he had the chance before he left. I was standing on the railing of the fire escape, looking down at the busy street below.

Someone's hands hit the small of my back, pushing me off of the railing and I was now falling towards the cars below me.

_"I'm sorry Lydia." _He said, but there was no remorse in his voice. _"But you have left me no choice." _As the ground came closer towards me, I closed my eyes, a single tear ripped away from my face. _"Goodbye."_

**So Zoe's been kidnapped, Lydia's just plummeted towards certain death, her mom lied about the tea keeping the voices away...now here's a question for y'all, who did what? (Who do you believed Kidnapped Zoe and why. And who do you think Lydia is hearing and why?) I mean, I know everything, but I wanna hear your thoughts.**

**Fun Fact: Joy and Zoe shared a room before joining Five of a Kind, so the two of them are very close, and when had climbed into the trunk to check something, Kylie accidentally closed it and the keys had fallen under the car, but Zoe figured out a way to escape using only her hair clip.**

**You know the Drill, reviews make me happy, suggestions make me smirk, I love feedback you wonderful readers!**


	12. Chapter 12

**I only own my OC's Ninjago belongs to Lego and whoever else has claim to it.**

Recovery Road

Chapter Twelve: All I Ever Wanted Was a Sister

Zoë's POV

When I woke up, I realized my hands were tied behind my back, and the ear phones were still in, they transmitted a low buzzing sound. Slowly, I propped myself up on my elbows, leaning against the wall, sliding myself upwards into a sitting position. There was tape on my mouth.

Looking around the room, I noticed there was another bed, right next to the only door and window. Swinging my legs over the side, I stepped onto the ground. My legs felt shaky, what had they used on me? Taking another hesitant step towards the door, my legs collapsed under me. I heard footsteps running towards the room, the door slowly opening as I was face first in the light beige carpeting. I was right between the two beds; a person ran into the room and rolled me onto my back, sitting me up. It was Jennifer; her brown hair streaked with grey was pulled back into a loose braid.

"Afternoon sis." She said; a smile on her face. I winced at the sudden explosion of noise, why was her voice so loud? She pulled out a small remote like object and pushed some of the buttons and then spoke again. "Sorry, I forgot to turn the volume down." She pulled the tape off my mouth and I furrowed my eyebrows together. Why did she call me 'sis'?

"Jennifer, who are you? Why do you call me your sister? Who am I?"She helped me up and led me with slow, wobbly toddler steps towards the other bed.

"Zoë, you're telling me you don't remember? You don't remember me? Nothing about dad kicking me out?" I shook my head. "Zoë, you're my little sister. Well, sort of." She heaved a heavy sigh. "It's a long story, but let's start at the beginning. I was eight years old, and there was one thing I didn't know, what it was like to have a sister. All I wanted was a sister, I would have even been fine with a little brother, but I found out that my mother was pregnant with twins, a boy _and _a girl." She pulled out a small silver locket that was shaped like a gear. "And then everything went wrong."

* * *

Lydia's POV

I was falling, a tear being ripped from my face from the fall. Eyes closed, I prepared myself for the worse, trying to straighten myself so I was falling feet first, knees bent.

_CRACK!_

I wasn't fast enough, pain shot through my body. Something was broken, but why couldn't I feel it?!

"Lydia!" I opened my eyes, everything was blurred from my tears, but I could make out the figure of a dude my age wearing a green hoodie. Lloyd. "Lydia, what hurts?"

"Everything Lloyd, everything hurts." I said; panic was starting to creep back into my body; I had landed on the edge of the sidewalk, my head and upper body lying in the street between two parked cars. Everyone had stopped what they were doing, I heard people talking on cell phones, and the ringing shriek of an ambulance heading this way. "Lloyd, 'm scared. I can't feel my legs." He scooped me up in his arms slowly, holding me close. I could _feel _how scared he was.

"It's alright Lydia; it's going to be okay." I turned my head into his green hoodie, and cried silently. It wasn't going to be okay. I knew I was badly hurt; _he _had wanted me to be weak, to be vulnerable. He knew this would happen, he orchestrated my fall perfectly.

Nikki's POV

* * *

When Lydia didn't answer us, we just thought it was because she was mad at us, we woke her up early, that was understood, we had all been slightly on edge all day, waiting for the police to call us back, saying they believed us. It wasn't like we had a whole lot of evidence that she was gone, they didn't know Zoë like we did. Her note said she would be back by seven, unless she called saying she had a lead.

The phone rang and Joy, Kylie and I all raced towards the black phone that sat on the small desk, I hopped over the couch and picked it up. "Hello?"

On the other end, it sounded like someone was just playing some crap EVP from a horror movie; it was just this crackling sound and someone breathing. _"Give up. She's gone, along with my pawn." _The crackling stopped and the line went dead.

"It wasn't the police guys; it was some idiot playing a prank call on us." Kylie swore, using some colorful new words. I looked out at the window and froze. Where was Lydia? Running out, I saw that everyone was surrounding her and that Lloyd kid, he had picked her up, and it was obvious she was scared and hurt. I ran out the door and into the crowd through the bookshop. I was next to them in seconds; Lydia looked at me with tearful blue eyes.

"'m sorry Nikki!"Paramedics were arriving on the scene and I looked at Lloyd. 'She fell.' He mouthed at me; I raised an eyebrow, but stepped aside to let them take Lydia. One of them walked over to us as two others got her in the back of the ambulance. "Alright, the person who called said that they saw her fall off of the fire escape. We're going to take her to the hospital, just, call her parents, let them know what's happened and that we need to talk with them." We nodded and headed back into the shop, climbing up the stairs into my apartment.

"Ugh," I said, leaning against the door, pulling my key out. "Now I really wish Zoë was here. Lydia's mom is going to _kill _us when she hears that she's back in the hospital!" When we got inside, I threw the phone at Kylie. "Call Lydia's mom. Tell her Lydia's hurt and on her way to the hospital."

"Why me?!" she asked, trying to give the phone to Joy who backed up, shaking her head.

"Because if she gets mad, she'd shoot the messenger before anyone else." I said, grabbing my jacket off of its hook. "I'm going to go tell Li."

"Well why not have her tell her sister?!"

"Because it's fun to make you do things like this." I said smirking, quickly walking out the door as Kylie was dialing the number.

**Ha, Lydia's going back to the hospital...and Zoë's kidnapper is claiming to be her sister! WTF?! I still want some guesses on you're suspicions and thoughts about anything. There's a large ammount of secrets surrounding my characters right now.**

**Sneak Peak:**

**"What d'ya think she's drinking?" Joy asked, Lydia had a dark purple slushie in one hand, her journal in the other. **

**"Well I don't think it's a grape slushie Joy. Something's up."**

**You know the Drill, reviews make me happy, suggestions make me smirk, I love feedback you wonderful readers!**


	13. Chapter 13

**I only own my OC's Ninjago belongs to Lego and whoever else has claim to it.**

Recovery Road

Chapter Thirteen: Find Something Else To Do, I Guess

Lydia's POV

I always hated going to sleep, nightmares had plagued me since I was young, and now they were only more life-like, and realistic.

Even worse, they were always the same. I would be running through thick trees, trying to get away from that voice, but he would be right there, laughing at how stupid I was. I would never be free, it was impossible to free myself. The only thing I had left to look forward to; would be my own death. That was the only escape for me. To die, then I might become free.

Knowing that bastard though, he'd probably bug me well into my afterlife.

I slammed my fists into the wooden bark of a tree; it shattered like a window on impact, shards showing me my new reflection.

I didn't like it; I looked too different, too weird. I looked bad, like someone had run me over with a steam roller and came back for seconds.

I sat up suddenly, nearly falling off the couch. Our living room was bathed in moonlight. The doctors at the hospital had said it would be okay for me to go home, but I would still have to attend physical therapy that might not even work.

My fall had injured my spinal cord severely; they said I was lucky to be alive. They couldn't tell if my case of paraplegia was going to be temporary or permanent though. All I knew was I could no longer dance, and I was stuck in a freaking wheel chair.

Reaching behind me, I turned on the lamp and grabbed my journal and a pencil. The clock read 12:01 am. Dating my entry, I began writing.

_Thursday, 12:01 AM_

_Woke up due to nightmare again, nearly fell off of couch. I want these stupid dreams to end, and if that means I have to die, then so be it. Life's already shitty, and now I'm stuck in a wheel chair. I can't dance so I have nothing to do, my aunt, Delia, my parents and my sisters are keeping me out of the studio, school's out of session and I have nothing to do. If I end up counting how many bricks are surrounding the garden in the back yard, or how many squirrels run through our yard one more time, I'm going to SCREAM._

_I wish Zoë was here, she'd know what to do._

Closing my notebook, I turned the light off. It's not fair. The routine I had established and started to enjoy was now scrapped, pushed to the side. Sure I can still sing, but I don't want to.

What I needed was a miracle.

* * *

Zoë's POV

After she had told me everything had gone wrong, she left the room, obviously sad. Several things didn't click together though, she said she had been eight when this happened, which was over thirty-three years ago. How could I be her sister?

I can walk on my own again; whatever had caused my muscles not to respond was out of my system. She had locked the door behind her, and had left the ear phones in. When I had reached up to remove them, she slapped my hand away, saying that they needed to stay in until she knew where my brother was.

That was another thing that did not add up. She said the boy I remember and I were twins. In my memory, he appeared to be the age I was now. That memory had to be from several years ago.

My hand ghosted over the edge of the bookshelf, dust attaching itself to my fingers like they were an electro-static dry cloth. On the shelves, there were several books, most of them appeared to be mysteries or adventure novels, while one was a large, off white, leather bound book with gilded letters on the spine. Pulling it off of the shelf, I started coughing at the large cloud of dust which flew off of it, attacking at my lungs.

"The book of tales..." I said to myself, coughing lightly into the crook of my elbow. Opening it, I found a small poem had been placed into the book, but then I realized it had been torn out at some point.

_The book of silence_

_The book of Tales_

_The book of Repentance_

_And the book of Gales_

_The books of unity _

_The books of serenity_

_Unit the four to save the fifth_

_Or leave her to kiss death's scythe_

_The lost memories_

_The lost laughs_

_The lost plans_

_The lost determination_

_To find what is lost they must lose the hope_

_The hope that tied them together_

_The hope that was cursed to save them_

_The hope betrays her love_

_Shatters his heart_

_To save him_

_To save them all_

Placing the page to the side, I looked at the table of contents. I did not know how to react when I saw that the first chapter was titled: The origin of Zoë.

"I see you found that book, it's very peculiar." I slammed it shut, how had I not noticed Jennifer opening the door. "I'm sorry for running off like that; I just wanted to check something out." She had the roll of tape again. "And I guess I should apologize for what I'm about to do." She said, looking at the floor, pulling out that small remote again. She hit something and the buzzing noise started changing again, getting louder and higher pitched. I couldn't help it, as a reflex I reached up to remove the ear phones, and she became mad, swatting my hands away angrily. "NO!" She turned the knob on the remote controller up higher and I wanted to die, the loud noise was distracting and beginning to fluctuate between two frequencies.

"I do not like you." I said weakly.

"I'll let my feeling know they should be hurt." She said, right before I closed my eyes, and everything went dark.

* * *

Lydia's POV _one month later_

My phone buzzed from where I had thrown it against the wall in a fit of rage. Lifting the tan pillow off of my face, I groaned, and had one of the stupidest moments of my life. Swinging my legs over the side of the couch, I tried to stand up. Mostly lifting myself up by pushing against the arm of the couch and still being heavily dependent on it to remain upright, and tried to take small steps, and it was working! I made it past the couch, and stood up. Victory!

My victory was short lived as my legs gave out from under me, sending me to the floor; my phone was in my reach though! Checking the time I gave a frustrated shout. It would be two hours before my parents would be home!

**One New Text From: **Mom

Rolling onto my back, I opened her text.

Dad just called saying that they're looking for young people to get some job experience at the museum, would you be interested?

The museum, seriously? How old did she think I was, twelve? I hated it there, nothing cool was ever on display, I'd die if I ended up stuck there. I can hardly stand it for the thirty-some odd minutes whenever mom makes me go drop dad's lunch off.

I'll think about it.

God I hope that the museum isn't my only option. I pushed myself up on my hands and leaned against the wall. If I hadn't been so stupid as to try walking, I wouldn't be here, stuck on the floor.

Hey Lloyd, I need your help. Can you come over?

Closing my eyes, I let the phone drop back down to the floor. Lloyd would think I was an idiot for doing something so stupid. My phone buzzed and I knew it was from him.

On the way.

I smiled and knew that I wouldn't be sitting here much longer.

* * *

Nikki's POV

The last rays of sunlight streamed through the studio windows, bathing us in its warm color, and casting long shadows across the floor as we ran through an old number. The ending was terribly off; I hadn't stopped when I usually did, because Joy hadn't remembered her cue, which threw all of us off. Joy flopped onto the floor, fixing her pony tail.

"Remember that comment I made about our trio being strongest when Kylie joined, I take that back now."

"Back then we had Zoë though." I said, looking out the window. She had to be out there somewhere; it had been a month, why hadn't any clues shown up?

Nevermore flew in through the open window, clearly distressed, and landed on my shoulder, pecking lightly at my ear before flying back out, circling around a building near the outskirts of town, maybe four blocks away. "Guys, I think Nevermore found something."

**Is Nevermore leading them to Zoe or is it just too good to be true!?**

**Sneak Peak:**

**"Lydia! Lydia wait!" I shouted out into the rain. For a moment, she turned around and looked me in the eyes.**

**"Whatever you think you have to say, save it, I don't care anymore."**

**You know the Drill, reviews make me happy, suggestions make me smirk, I love feedback you wonderful readers!**


	14. Chapter 14

**I only own my OC's Ninjago belongs to Lego and whoever else has claim to it.**

**This chapter is really sad, and it came to mind while I was in parenting class, trying to figure out an origin story while we were learning about miscarrige, stillbirth and death in fetus' a few months ago. I think I started crying about three time while typing this.**

Recovery Road

Chapter Fourteen: Picture Frames

Joy's POV

The three of us ran after Nevermore, personally, I just thought the stupid bird was leading us nowhere. After a while, she stopped and landed on an electricity wire that lead to a small, run down and clearly abandoned house, there was another bird next to her, I think it was a hawk or something, definitely a bird of prey, I could tell by the beak and talons. The house was sagging slightly into the ground around it, shingles were missing, and boards covered the windows. The door looked new though, as if it's previous owner had bought the door for it right before they attempted to sell it.

"Guys, I think Nevermore wants us to go inside." I said, opening the latch on the old, picket fence, there was rust covering the latch, but it opened as though it had been recently oiled. As I treked through the mud and overgrown weeds,I could have sworn I saw a light in one of the windows. "Someone's in there!" I shouted, running towards the door, loosing my left shoe to the ooey muddy mess of the yard. With my right foot, I hit the door and barreled up the stairs to the window I had seen the light in. My friends shouted after me.

The entire upstairs looked like someone had been trying to leave in a hurry, all of the doors were wide open, and below, I heard the door slam shut, my friends banging against it. The entire house was dark, tiny slivers of moonlight peeked through the cracks. There was one door that led into a large bedroom, the bed looked like no one had slept in it for decades. There was another door though, it led into a smaller room, walls painted what appeared to have been a cheery sky blue, puffy white clouds painted on the wall partially hid a vibrant sun on one wall, while on the other was a hilltop, yellow butterflies appeared to actually fly, whoever had painted this was really talented.

Looking at the furniture, two white cribs with peeling paint, a rocking chair, and a small dresser, I felt my heart drop. This was a nursery. Someone had raised their children in here, in this beautifull decorated room. I noticed three picture frames, face down on the dresser. The first one was solid, black plastic.

The image inside was of a man assembling one of the cribs, a girl sitting on a stool handing him a screwdriver. She was laughing and her eyes were closed, short brown hair held back by an oil stained, white bandana. The man had to be her dad, they looked a lot alike.

Moving the picture to the side, I picked up the next one, a small, powder blue wicker frame. Turning it over, I felt pin-pricks of tears at my eyes.

The picture was of the body of an infant, prematurely born, cleaned up and wrapped in a small white blanket. behind the baby was a tiny white lamb with a yellow ribbon tied around it's neck. A teardrop landed on the glass over the picture. Why did this little child have to die? What about the baby's twin? Did that child suffer the same fate, the one where they never truely got to live? _'Whoa Joy, that was deep and strangely philisophical. Where did that come from?' _Stubbornly wiping my eyes, I placed the picture back on the dresser. As I picked up the last frame, another picture fell out from under it. Picking it up, I looked and nearly dropped it.

The picture was of a grave marker, I knew I had passed this one over and over, because slightly to the right, I could see the large oak tree where my grandparents and great-grandparents were burried now. On the simple grave marker, there was the abstract image of a woman holding two children, wings sprouting from her back.

Caroline Julien

An Amazing wife, mother and best friend taken before her time.

Rest in peace Caroline.

You will be missed.

Then I read the two names below a small poem.

I never held you, but I feel you.

You never spoke, but I hear you.

You were never here, but I know you.

Rest in peace Zane and Zoë.

I placed the picture down, and slid against the dresser, sticking my head between my knees, I saw the light of a flashlight shine on me.

"Are you alright?" The person asked, clearly concerned. I shook my head.

How is it possible? Zoë is supposed to be dead.

* * *

**Is Nevermore leading them to Zoe or is it just too good to be true!?**

**Sneak Peak:**

**"Alright," Nikki said, her pencil sliding down the list of applicants. "Number 450, you're up."**

**I watched as the lights on the stage dimmed, and the figure walked out, right leg dragging slightly. The figure had their back to us, and the lights turned on, music echoed around the small theatre.**

**Whoever this was, she was amazing.**

**You know the Drill, reviews make me happy, suggestions make me smirk, I love feedback you wonderful readers!**


	15. Chapter 15

**I only own my OC's Ninjago belongs to Lego and whoever else has claim to it.**

**I put up a new poll, please take the time to vote.**

**Whoa...total mood shift from the last chapter. This is lighter, and fluffier! I'll try to do that, unless it's absolutely impossible.**

Recovery Road

Chapter Fifteen: I Think I Know Where She Is

Lloyd's POV

When I knocked on the door to Lydia's house, I waited a few seconds, and my phone buzzed.

Come in, seriously, I can't get the door.

Walking in, I saw her sitting against the wall in the living room. She looked at me and smiled.

"Yeah...uh, I'm kinda stuck here, do you think you can help me up?" She blushed sheepishly and mumbled something into her hand that sounded like she also was slightly afraid of being alone.I rolled my eyes. All she had said was that there was a problem. bending down, I put one arm under her knees, while I put the other behind her back, picking her up and carrying her over to the couch.

"So how did you get over there?" I asked, Lydia picked up a small purple journal and tossed it onto the coffee table. She sighed and looked like she was concentrating on something. Then I saw it, she moved her legs, just a small kicking movement that I thought I was imagining, but the smile on her face made it clear. She was responding to the therapy.

"I was trying to take a nap, but my phone buzzed and I had thrown it at the wall earlier, so I went to go get it, and I pushed up on the arm of the chair, used it for support, and took tiny steps towards my phone. When I got past the couch and chair though, I didn't have anything to hold onto and I fell. Thus resulting in me texting you." Lydia finished, throwing her arms into the air in front of her. "Thanks for coming by the way, I would have been stuck there until my mom and dad came home, and that would have been twice as bad."

"No problem," I said, laughing. "They're just over protective, you get seriously hurt in the woods, and then you fall from a fire escape...I'd be over protective of you too." She stuck her tongue out at me.

"But they've been smothering me!"

"That just means that they care enough about you." I said, and she pulled her legs onto the couch tucking them behind her.

"I guess so." She said, looking absently around the room. I looked at the cover of the journal, dark purple with a golden dragon embossed in the center. "What, thinking about trying to read my journal again?" She teased, poking my side. "It's just what I write my nightmares in, my mom said it helps."

"You have nightmares?" I asked, and she nodded, leaning so she was laying against my side. "Do you want to talk about them?" She nodded.

"It's almost always the same thing, sometimes it's different, but it always starts with me falling towards an ocean, but right as I hit the water, I'm falling through trees, and when I stop falling, I hear this voice, he's telling me what to do, I start running, trying to escape him, but he keeps laughing at me. Telling me I'll never get away, telling me that I'm going to end up doing what he wants no matter what." She closed her eyes and shuddered lightly. "I get so mad, and I hit this tree, but when I hit it, it explodes into shards of glass, flying past me. I usually wake up after that, and then it's just so hard to get back to sleep, so I'll just lie there, thinking about how it's like he said in my dream, I'm never going to be able to escape." I pulled her in close for a hug, and she whispered into my ear. "I just want to be normal again."

"Normality is over-rated." I said, and she pulled away, laughing.

"It sure is."

* * *

Joy's POV

"Are you alright?" The person asked again, dropping down beside me. I shook my head again, looking at the person. It was the ice ninja...what was his name again? I took a deep breath, trying not to pass out.

"Y-yeah, just a little dizzy, thanks. I'm Joy by the way." The ice ninja stood up and held out his hand, helping me up.

"My name is Zane." Another wave of nausea hit me, and I almost fell again. "Careful, you might hurt yourself. Perhaps it would be better for you to sit down and put your head between your knees." He gently lowered me to the ground, and I did as he suggested. Downstairs, I heard the door open and my friends calling my name.

"U-up h-here." I shouted, my voice faltering slightly. I could hear them running up the stairs, both of them trying to be faster than the other. I rolled my eyes and stood up, and walked out of the nursery to meet them.

"Joy, what the hell happened to you? You look like you just saw a ghost!" Kylie said, a smirk playing at the corners of her mouth. Nikki came up behind her, and nudged her achilles tendon with the toe of her shoe, making Kylie jump out of her skin. "Not funny Nikki."  
"I don't know Kylie, I thought it was hilarious."

* * *

**Yep...I finally squeezed in some fluff, don't worry, Lloyd and Lydia are going to have fights, they're gonna argue, and there'll be some tears on both sides. Here's a sneak peek for they're relationship:**

**"No, we have to break up." She said, turning away, her voice was tearful. "I'll only end up breaking your heart anyways."**

**Fun Fact: Of the original OC's everyone but Kylie kept their original names(Well, Nikki used to only go by her real name, Nicole) Kylie originally was Kida(Where that came from, I'm not entirely sure.)**

**You know the Drill, reviews make me happy, suggestions make me smirk, I love feedback you wonderful readers!**


	16. Chapter 16

**I only own my OC's Ninjago belongs to Lego and whoever else has claim to it.**

**I put up a new poll, please take the time to vote.**

* * *

Recovery Road

Chapter Sixteen: You Could Never Replace Them.

Zoë's POV

Waking up, I could not move at all. Nothing held my limbs down onto the smooth, flat surface that must have been some sort of table. Above me I could see stairs spiraling upwards. Where was I? How long had I been unconscious? Where was Jennifer?

As if on cue, I heard footsteps heading towards me, and Jennifer stood above me, looking down with hatred. "It's been over a month Zoë, I believe it is safe to say that your friends aren't coming for you." She pulled that remote controller out, and hit a button, and then she twisted the knob that played with the ear phones. The buzzing was soft, but loud enough for me to hear it and have difficulty ignoring it. "C'mon, up with you." She said, and I sat up, swinging my legs over the side of the table. I looked around the small workshop. There was only one entrance, the one all the way up the stairs. If I attempted to run, she would only have to turn the knob up a few more notches before I would be on the edge of conciousness.

Jennifer sat down in the middle of the room, gesturing for me to do the same. I did as she moved her hand closer to the remote. Out of a back pack which had been slumped on the floor behind her, she pulled out what appeared to be blue prints, and handed them to me.

"Zoë, those blue prints, are yours. The robot on them, that's you."

"That is not possible." I said, but as I looked closer at the blue prints, I realized she was right. "Why was I created?"

"Grief can lead someone to do stupid things. When I was eight years old, my mother was expecting twins, but that didn't happen, one afternoon, while I was at school, my dad came to pick me up, and immediately took me to the hospital, mom had been out jogging with one of her friends, and had stopped to tie her shoe, her friend offered to wait with her, but she insisted that it would have been best for her friend to keep going, to keep her current rhythm, so she left. As my mother stood up to start her jogging again, a man came out of no where on a busy street and stabbed my mother in her stomach." She pulled out a locket, and opened it up, revealing a picture of a woman with pale blonde hair, her arms wrapped around the neck of a man with dark brown hair. Closing the locket, she tucked it back under her shirt. "They couldn't save her, or the twins. I locked myself in my room for days. I didn't want to come out, I didn't want to eat, I didn't want to talk to the school therapists, I didn't want to do anything. My dad pulled me out of school, and one day, he handed me the blue print to two robots, he said that maybe they could replace the twins. I agreed, thinking about how cool it would be to have robots for siblings so we began to build them." She wiped at a tear that fell down her face.

"You were not happy with the result?" I asked, tilting my head to the side.

"No." She whispered, picking up the remote. "And that is exactly why I kidnapped you, to shut you off permanently, but I think I'll wait until I have your brother here as well. Then I could just tear you both apart, piece by piece." She hit a button and everything became silent, and dark and still.

* * *

**Yeah...it's short, I'm sorry. That inspiration bunny I had sort of vanished...**

**QUESTION TIME!**

**Any recommendations for any Ninjago fanfics I should read?(ones you think are good.)**

**You know the Drill, reviews make me happy, suggestions make me smirk, I love feedback you wonderful readers!**


	17. Chapter 17

**I only own my OC's Ninjago belongs to Lego and whoever else has claim to it.**

**I put up a new poll, please take the time to vote.**

* * *

Recovery Road

Chapter Seventeen: Solutions and Plans

Kylie's POV

"So what? Zoë's a robot?" I asked, blowing my bangs out of my eyes. I was standing slightly behind Nikki, making sure she didn't try to nudge the back of my ankle again.

"It would be safe to believe so." Zane said. I heard Joy pounding down the stairs, something clutched in her arms. She was out of breath, and her hair was sticking up, a sign that she was either really frustrated, or really excited.

"Guys, look what I found!" She said, placing a laptop, a journal and then she pulled out what appeared to be a few strands of silvery blonde hair. "The journal looked like it had been accidentally kicked under a bed in the room where I found the hair, and the laptop was on a desk in another room, still charging."

"And the significance of these things is…" Nikki said, stepping forward and picking up the journal. She flipped the pages and a cloud of dust attacked her. Coughing into her elbow, she dropped the notebook, it landed with its spine up, the pages splayed open. I flipped it over, and saw that the page was dated to a day about a month ago.

**_Zoë found the book of Tales; I shouldn't have left it on the shelf. I can't stand her. She's too nice. I can't wait to have the satisfaction of destroying it and the other robot._**

**_Unfortunately, I've run into another problem, the other robot is one of the ninja; he's going to be hard to separate from the group. I believe my father left the blue prints for both the falcon and the raven in his workshop in the tree. Perhaps if I find them, I can hack into the falcons programming, and lead the stupid robot to me._**

"Guys, you might want to read this." I said, handing the journal to Zane. His brows furrowed together as he read.

"I do not believe it would be wise for the three of you to go to the workshop and try to get Zoë back on your own. Perhaps if we called my friends, maybe they could help." He passed the journal off to Joy, who nodded in agreement. When she offered it to Nikki, she took it, and flipped through more of the pages. She stopped and pulled out a photo.

"I believe that this is the person we're looking for." Nikki passed around a photo of a woman with long brown hair; she looked like the kind of person who would be a part of a PTA or is a substitute teacher at a moment's notice, not the person who would kidnap our best friend. "Think we can take her on?"

"You know how to fight?"Zane asked, raisin his eyebrows. I gave him a sheepish smile; this dude _was _clueless about our dancing styles, we've incorporated fighting into our dances a lot.

"All of us do, Kylie and Noland's dad taught them how to defend themselves, Nikki lives in her own apartment above the book shop, and I kinda picked some things up through dancing." Joy said, pushing her hair out of her eyes. Nikki turned to look at Zane, a question on her lips.

"Do you think you can get your friends to meet up at my apartment? This place is giving me the creeps."

"I believe so."

"Good, it's a plan then."

* * *

Lloyd's POV

My phone buzzed, and seconds later, Lydia's did too.

"Lloyd, as much as I love spending time in your company, Nikki just sent me an emergency meeting text, she needs me to meet up with her and the others at her apartment." I looked at my text, it was from my dad?

Lloyd, the others need you to meet up with them at a bookshop, they said you know where it is.

Be safe.

"Me too Lydia." I sent a text to my dad.

Alright, I'm going. Since when can you text?!

* * *

Joy's POV

I knew the others knew I was nervous because I could see their looks of annoyance as I jumped at every creak of the floorboards, every howl of wind, every rain drop that hit the window, and then there were my hands, I had pulled out one of the motivation stones my mom had given me before I left after my visit shortly after Lydia fell from the fire escape.

"Joy, if you don't stop twiddling that stone, there won't be any more of it after tonight, stop worrying for ten minutes, Zoë is going to be fine. If you don't believe me, or if you're scared, you can always stay here and set up home base with Noland and Lydia." Kylie said, she was sitting on the couch upside down, dangling her legs over the back of the overstuffed grey suede-y material.

"Hold up, you called me here so I could work on tech-y stuff?" A familiar and cheerful voice said from the doorway. Looking up, I saw the door was open, but no one was standing there. Then I saw them, Lloyd and Lydia walking in, his left arm wrapped around her waist, and his left leg right behind her right leg, intertwined as though they had been in a three legged race.

"Lydia…you're…" I couldn't find the words.

"Walking? Yeah. It's a long story…" She said, giving me a small smirk. "I kinda threw my phone across the room, got up, took some small steps leaning on the furniture, face planted, texted Lloyd to come help me, and then the two of us walked here." She untwined her leg from his, and tried to take a step towards me, her right leg dragged slightly on the ground behind her.

"So you're better?" Nikki asked, looking up from the map Zane and Cole had drawn to illustrate a plan.

"Yeah, I mean, my right leg is still a little out of it, but that should be temporary."

"Then let's go get Zoë back!" I said, jumping into the air, pumping my fist.

* * *

**QUESTION TIME!**

**Any recommendations for any Ninjago fanfics I should read?(ones you think are good.)**

**what was you're favorite part about this chapter?**

**You know the Drill, reviews make me happy, suggestions make me smirk, I love feedback you wonderful readers!**


	18. Chapter 18

**I only own my OC's Ninjago belongs to Lego and whoever else has claim to it.**

**I put up a new poll, please take the time to vote.**

* * *

Recovery Road

Chapter Eighteen: Maybe You Can't, but I Can

Lydia's POV

Right before we left, Noland handed each of us a small ear piece, it seemed to wrap around our ear like some of the ear buds I've used before, and it fit inside my ear perfectly.

"Now you can hear not only me, but the others as well." Noland said, catching my wrist as I pulled my coat on over my thin long sleeved shirt. "Are you sure you're ready for this Lyd? You just started walking again and everything…"

"I'll be fine." I said, and Lloyd wrapped his arm around me, intertwining our ankles together again. At first, when we were trying to leave my house, it had been awkward, but this way, if I started falling, he could catch me, and it was faster if he moved my right leg for me. The joint in my knee was just stiff, in a few days, I would be fine. "Noland, when do things ever go wrong?" I said, giving him a smile.

"Is that a trick question?" He asked, as we walked out, the others laughed. It really was, things always went wrong, but we always went with the flow.

Now wasn't the time to worry about what could go wrong, all we needed to do was get Zoë back.

* * *

Joy's POV

At the edge of the forest, we saw Nevermore swoop down, landing slightly awkwardly near a small, rocky hill. The robotic bird seemed to want us to come over to her, as she flew over to Kylie and began attacking her hair.

"Get off me you stupid bird." She shouted, flailing her arms around her head, trying to scare Nevermore away. As the bird flew back over to the rock face, I followed, pushing aside some dying plants, I realized that it was like a vent, metal slated cover and all.

"Guys, you should check this out." I said, pulling out my small screwdriver kit, and matching a screw driver to the screws that held the cover on. When I managed to remove all of the screws, it revealed that it was a very small opening. None of us would be able to fit through. "Zane, what's the chance that this leads to your father's workshop?" I asked, stepping back.

"It is an option, on the shop blue prints he lent to me, there was a vent which he said lead out towards the edge of the forest." He kneeled down next to me. "Unfortunately, it is too small for any of us to go through."

"Well what about me?" Lydia asked, stepping forward without Lloyd's help. "I'm small, I would probably fit!"

"But you can't walk on your own." Cole said, pointing at her limping leg.

"So? If I get Zoë out, she could help me." Lydia looked at all of us. "Seriously? We're still doing this? The whole I'm incapable of helping thing? Give me a chance!"

"Lydia," I said, touching her jacket sleeve, the bright yellow fabric was puffy and synthetic. "You're jacket makes that weird swishy sound every time you move, in an enclosed space like this one, they'd hear you coming from here, plus, the material gets caught on everything."

Lydia unzipped her jacket and shrugged out of it, shivering lightly in the cold air. "Then I'll go without it." She kneeled down by the entrance, Lloyd caught her arm.

"Be careful. We'll start heading to the workshop." Lydia nodded and started army crawling into the vent. We watched as she slowly disappeared from sight.

"Guys, I really wish you could see this!" She said, her voice slightly fuzzy in the communicator.

* * *

Lydia's POV

"Guys," I breathed, my breath a white cloud in front of me. "I really wish you could see this!"

The vent had small glass-like panels in it every few feet. They revealed a large, icy cavern. I kept moving, and despite how good the idea sounded in my head, removing my jacket was probably the biggest mistake I had ever made.

"Well what do you see?" Nikki asked, I could hear snow crunching beneath her feet.

"There are these little windows and they let me see that there's this huge underground cavern." I said, my nose twitching. Crap, now was not the time to start sneezing. Holding my nose with one hand, I kept moving, my foot banged against the ground, and the sound echoed around me.

"Really Lydia?" Noland said from his end back at the apartment, I could practically hear him raising his eyebrow. "I thought you were supposed to be stealthy."

"It would be easier if I had remembered to take my allergy medication this morning then!" I hissed into the communicator, getting mad at their comments. I closed my eyes and stopped moving. I needed to calm down. That was when I felt the cold, frigid metal begin to heat up. "G-guys, I have a problem! The vent, it's starting to heat up!" I squeaked, panic rose inside me, welling up like blood in a cut. I moved quicker now, but with every inch, the metal rose in temperature, and I felt it burning at my bare hands and it would soon singe through my thin shirt, and burn at my skin. That was when I reached the other end, the cover had been placed against the wall, as though this crazy Jennifer chick had been waiting for me. looking around, I saw that I was in a small room, there was light coming from over by these stairs that were mounted to the wall. Climbing up, I found myself in what had to have been the main room.

Laying on a metal table, was Zoë. I ran over to her and began to pull at the metal restraints that held her down to the table, fear filled her ice blue eyes as they shot open, staring at something behind me. She shouted something into a wadded up cloth that had been shoved in her mouth. Pizza cook remind you? What did that-

Pain exploded behind my eyes, and I felt my legs fall out from under me. Oh, not pizza cook remind you. Lydia look behind you. Hey, one word out of four isn't so bad. Darkness ate away at my vision as I was forced into a world of senseless darkness.

* * *

**XD Oh Pizza cook remind you...Lydia's not too good at interpreting things...but she's not alone. **

**So...what didja think? is there anything I should improve on?**

**Alright, unless you guys are extremely oposed to this idea, I was going to add a new ninja to the team, but it'll be gradual, and it's not who'd you expect.**

**You know the Drill, reviews make me happy, suggestions make me smirk, I love feedback you wonderful readers!**


	19. Chapter 19

**I only own my OC's Ninjago belongs to Lego and whoever else has claim to it.**

* * *

Recovery Road

Chapter Nineteen: When Plan A Fails…

Lydia's POV

When I woke up, I felt the stale taste of blood in my mouth, and I had a mega head ache.

"C-in, L-dia. Can-ear us?" Joy's voice sounded in my ear, the communicator was fuzzy, whatever had hit me must have broken it. I opened my eyes, but I couldn't see anything, something was tied around my eyes, and there was tape over my mouth. I reached up to remove the tape slowly, just so it wouldn't hurt as badly, but I realized my hands were stuck behind me. "Ive up. Cn't here us." Noland said, I wanted to scream to them that I could hear them. The line clicked off, leaving me alone. I pulled my legs up close to my body. I should have stayed with the group, then I wouldn't be in this mess.

Jennifer had two of us now, what could the others do?

_"It's nice to see you again Lydia, it seems you are stronger than I thought, overcoming your injury like that." _Great. As if today couldn't get any shittier, now he was back.

'Can't you let me be captive in peace?' I asked in my head, rolling my eyes.

* * *

Lloyd's POV

When I heard the sickening crack from Lydia's end, followed by that thudding sound, and then the eerie silence that followed, I knew she was in trouble.

Lydia had to be okay. Looking at the other's faces, I knew they were thinking the same. Joy stepped forward, grabbing onto the tree, her face was pale.

"I volunteer Kylie to tell Lydia's mom what happened if Lydia's seriously hurt." She said, her voice a low whisper against sudden gusts of wind, Lydia's yellow jacket was scooped out of her arms, and tossed out of sight. "Uh…give me a second, I'm trying to-ACK!" Joy shouted, stumbling forward into the snow.

"I sense we are not alone." Zane said, the snow that had been drifting downwards for a while was suddenly becoming heavier. I felt something hit my back, something solid and definitely alive. "Treehorns!" Zane shouted, what were those again? Weren't they those things that roamed in the forest? Another one hit me, and I spun around, a ball of green energy forming in my hands, flying out into the snowy landscape.

"I can't see anything!" I heard Kai shout from somewhere to the left. A loud thud and a small squeak let me know one of the girls had been knocked down.

"Everyone hit the ground!" Cole shouted, and I did, sinking several inches into the snow bank. Even in my jacket I was freezing, Lydia had to have been cold in the workshop, unless it was heated, which I highly doubted. I felt something grab the back of my jacket and lift me into the air, shit. The way that the fabric was being pulled made it hard for me to move my arms just enough so I could unzip the stupid jacket and slip out of it. The treehorns had grabbed the others as well, Kylie was struggling to get out of her coat, its light brown stood out against the snow. Joy and Zane had been picked up by the same one, I couldn't see Kai, Jay, or Nikki from where I was. The treehorns began moving again, taking us with them.

"They are taking us in the opposite direction." Zane shouted.

"Really? I didn't guess that!" Nikki shouted from somewhere behind me. Her voice was laced with sarcasm. "So much for plan A."

"We'll figure out plan B as soon as we hit the ground!" Joy said, obviously a little more than freaked out.

The snowy gusts of wind began to slow the further away they took us, eventually stopping all together. They dropped us in a giant pit, purposely dug to keep us in. the walls were frozen over and perfectly smooth, not a single foot hold or loose tree root.

"Alright, who has an idea for plan B?" Nikki asked, shaking snow out of her hair.

* * *

Zoë's POV

I watched as Lydia's body crumpled onto the floor, Jennifer stood behind her, frying pan in hand. She feigned innocent as she placed the frying pan down, and poked Lydia's arm with the toe of her boot. She giggled, once more confirming my suspicions on her mental state.

"Oh dear," She said, picking my friend up. "I do believe she's broken!" Jennifer began to walk away, descending the loop of stairs that Lydia had ascended only minutes ago. I felt a tear begin to trickle down the side of my face. Lydia could be hurt because she tried to free me. Jennifer was right, I only caused trouble.

Perhaps dismantling me _was _the best idea.

* * *

**Alright, you guys now know my weakness, I can't write fight scenes. This is true.**

**We also know that Jennifer belongs in a Looney-bin, but I think that had already been established.**

**HEY EVERYBODY! Go Check out the story: Call Him Brace-Face Zane by ZaneWalker, it's amazing! It's going to be funny, I promise, and if you think I lied, you can throw a pie at me.**

**You know the Drill, reviews make me happy, suggestions make me smirk, I love feedback you wonderful readers!**


	20. Chapter 20

**I only own my OC's Ninjago belongs to Lego and whoever else has claim to it.**

* * *

Recovery Road

Chapter Twenty: Bargain For Warmth

Zoë's POV

Jennifer let me off of the table, and I rubbed at my wrists, they were sore from when I had tried to get out of the bonds when Lydia had sneezed. I had tried to scream at her to turn back, that Jennifer was waiting, but the piece of cloth she had shoved in my mouth prevented me from speaking clearly. I reached up and removed the wadded up fabric.

"She should be waking up soon robot." I looked up at Jennifer. What was she trying to trigger, what emotion did she want? "You know, I think it's a little too warm in here, how about we turn down the temperature?" I felt my eyes widen. Lydia did not have a jacket on, and I knew her shirt was very thin, parts of it had been singed when she was in the vent. She would slowly freeze to death.

Were the other coming or had Lydia come here on her own accord. Why had she been limping? She's a dancer her aunt would have insisted that the four of them continued dancing even if I was not there, her knee would not be stiff. "Please let me see her." I asked, trying to keep my voice emotionless.

"Maybe…but I say we let it cool down in here." She handed me a Rubik's cube. "You can play with that until I say otherwise." Jennifer started playing with the knob that messed with the frequency of the buzzing transmitted into my ears, it was difficult to ignore, making my focus slightly off. Below, I could hear faint sounds of movement. My hands flew over the cube, turning it left, then right, middle section upwards and then I turned the lower level. One side completed, five more.

Left, down, right, right, counterclockwise. The moves were becoming fewer in number. I could hear the movements stop.

With one last turn, I had solved the cube and the movement below ceased. "Three minutes." Jennifer said, not looking up from her computer. She pointed at the stairs that would lead me to Lydia. "You have the next two minutes and fifty-three seconds to visit her, and be back where you are right now." As she stopped speaking, I raced towards the steps, and let out a soft gasp at the sight of Lydia.

She was tied to a support beam, shivering. Tape covered her mouth and she had drawn her legs up to her torso. Behind the pole her hands were chained to a small metal loop, effectively keeping her there. The frequency the buzzing was at now was different. I peeled at the tape over her mouth and untied the blindfold, trying not to rip her hair out.

"Z-Zoë?" Lydia said, her voice barely above a whisper. She winced and tried to touch her head. "My head hurts."She shuddered, and her breath was a white cloud in front of her. "And it's cold." I looked around the barren room, nothing would be able to keep her warm, and what little warmth she had was being sapped out of her by the cold, unforgiving metal pole. I knew her time was running low.

"I will try to come back down soon, hopefully with a blanket. Just try not to fall asleep Lydia." I said, turning and heading back up the steps. Jennifer was waiting.

"See what happens when you get too close to something living you god damned scrap metal? They get hurt. She's going to freeze because she came after you, because you had her convinced you were worth saving." She stepped forward, a baseball bat in hand. She swung it at me and it hit my head, sending me backwards onto the floor. I could hear Lydia crying for Jennifer to stop. Another swing of the bat landed on my leg, I didn't cry out. I wasn't human.

Why should I feel pain?

Jennifer suddenly dropped the bat, and lifted me up by the front of my shirt.

"Please." I said, swallowing hard. "She is going to die if she does not warm up. Please, I'll do anything just to make sure she's warmer. Please Jennifer." I was dropped and shoved onto the floor, Jennifer's steel-toed boot collided with my ribcage.

"Anything?" She gave me a jeering smirk, and I knew what I had just brought myself into.

"Anything." I repeated, pulling myself onto my knees, bowing my head. She grabbed the remote and hit the lemon yellow button. The buzzing ceased, my ears ringing. Jennifer walked away, I could hear her opening something, and a blanket covered my head.

"Go give it to the stupid child, when you come back up, we'll discuss what 'anything' means." I lifted the blue quilt off of my head and stood up, pain ricochet from nerve to nerve it seemed. My leg and ribs were nothing compared to the acid burning inside my head. As I descended the stairs, I saw Lydia's face light up in a way it hadn't for the longest time.

Whether I had missed the net stair, or if I had been shoved, or if I my leg had just given out underneath me, I tumbled downwards, spiraling into the wall, the blanket headed out of our reach. "Zoë! are you alright!?" Lydia asked, stretching her left leg out towards me. I pushed myself up, and shook my head. Sliding the blanket over to her, I began to leave, forcing myself up the stairs. It was now that I began to truly notice the gears that worked inside of me.

"Zoë, let's talk about the terms and conditions to which you will agree, otherwise I will make you go back down those stairs, take the blanket away, and then punch the child in the face before coming back up here and setting the thermostat to below zero." Jennifer said, motioning to the chair next to her. I sat down and bowed my head.

* * *

**Yeah...this was entirely in Zoë's POV, and I felt awful writing it. Don't worry, we'll see what the others were up to in the next chapter!**

**You know the Drill, reviews make me happy, suggestions make me smirk, I love feedback you wonderful readers!**


	21. Chapter 21

**I only own my OC's Ninjago belongs to Lego and whoever else has claim to it.**

* * *

Recovery Road

Chapter Twenty-One: We're Off to Meet the Crazy!

Nikki's POV

I blew my bangs out of my eyes as Kylie tried once again to climb out of the frozen hole.

"Kylie, give it a rest already!" I said, and she shot me a glare and I tapped my communicator, the signal had been going weak for a while now. Noland hadn't replied to us, and it was starting to make me worry. Cole sat down next to me. "I don't want to talk."

"Then let me. You're worried about Zoë, and you're thinking about how Lydia's mom is going to act when she hears what happened. Pretty close?"

"Right on the mark." I mumbled drawing my knees up closer to my body. "Marcus…" I whispered, and jumped up, startling Joy. "Joy, your cell phone has signal no matter where you are right?"

"Yeah, but what's so important…Oh!" She pulled it out and started hitting several buttons. "C'mon Marcus, pick up your damn phone for once in your life!" She started pacing back and forth, slipping on the patches of darkened ice. "Hey Marcus, I kinda need your help. What would be the best way to get out of a pit that's glazed over with ice, about thirteen feet in diameter, and roughly twenty feet deep and filling up with snow?"

"Alright, if Marcus doesn't believe she's crazy by now, then it's hopeless." I said, looking up at the opening. Wherever Joy had pulled those measurements out of was beyond me, but they were probably accurate. Snow was sliding in from the sides, and it was beginning to pool around our ankles.

"Marcus, there are…eight of us all together, no, Zoë and Lydia aren't here. Wait, can you repeat that? Alright, we'll try it, and if it doesn't work, I'll call back." She ended the call and slipped the phone into her pocket. "He said that Noland had sent him a message telling him to try and call me, and Marcus said that we should try making a tower, he said that some of the roots further up wouldn't be covered with as much snow and ice as the ones down here."

"Well let's try it!" Kai said, and I could hear that what he really wanted was to get out of the cold. I turned to look at Zane, who nodded in agreement.

"It should work."

* * *

Joy's POV

There were times where I really hated the fact that while I was tall, I was skinny as a bean pole and willowy like a twig, people never had problems propelling me into the air, but I on the other hand, did. Now was definitely one of them. "Come on Joy, we need you."I looked at Zane as though he was crazy.

"We will not let you fall, I promise." He said, and took my hand, leading me over towards the others. Before we tried doing what Marcus had suggested, Cole and Kai wanted to try something stupider. I guess Kylie was partially to blame, she blabbed that I had been a flyer on the school cheerleading team and that I had been a high jumper on the track team at my school, which made them think that I would be comfortable being tossed into the air.

"Alright, I'll give it a try." I gave Zane a half smile as I handed him my phone. No use letting that get shattered, if I fell and got hurt, it would be our only lifeline.

"Okay Joy, when they tossed you up in the air during a cheer routine, how did that work exactly." Kai asked. I swallowed hard, my mouth suddenly very dry. Did I seriously trust my life with these two?

"Um… usually there would be two people who would lock their own hands together like this," I said, intertwining my own fingers, palms up, and they copied, looking at me to continue, I looked at Zane. "Zane, can you be a spotter, meaning that you stand back slightly, ready to catch me if I start falling." He nodded and I looked back at Cole and Kai, both of them had kneeled, putting their locked hand near each other. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, placing one hand on Kai's shoulder, and my other on Cole's. I felt my elbows bend as they both slowly stood up, I faced the wall, knowing that if I was looking the other way, I would only make myself look down.

"Alright, this is as high as we can lift you. If we toss you in the air, do you think you can make it out?" I nodded.

"Yeah, best way for maximum lift is to go down suddenly and quickly back up, I'm going to stand with my knees bent so I can kick off. Ready?" I bent my knees as they went back down, and quickly shot up like springs, when I knew that we were as high as before, I pushed off, feeling my body spiral in the air. I was over pure snow now, and fast approaching. Bending my knees again, I tried to stay upright, but landed on my back in the powdery ice crystals. My vision was compromised by the displaced snow. "I'm out!"

"Alright Joy, you need to go find where we were, my backpack had rope in it and I think it might have been long enough to get us out of here." Nikki shouted. I started running. Thankfully the snow hadn't filled in the steps the treehorns had taken to bring us here.

"I'll be back lickety-split guys!" I shouted, taking off in the snow.

* * *

Lydia's POV

It was too quiet above me. I had heard Zoë say she agreed, and then everything became silent.

The quilt that Zoë had wrapped around me had slid off and I couldn't wrap it back around myself, but I had the silence for a blanket. I couldn't tell if I was just losing my hearing temporarily, or if the two above me had decided to just be quiet.

The tears that had trickled down my face earlier had frozen onto my skin, just letting me know how cold it really was, how cold I had become. My body temperature was dipping into the dangerously low temperatures. I looked towards the stairs. Light trickled in slowly, but it too was fading, just like my hope that the others would get here soon.

* * *

Joy's POV

When Kylie finally climbed up the rope and out of the pit, Nevermore landed in a tree not far from us. I walked over to the bird and looked it in the eye.

"Tell Jennifer we're coming for our friends, and we are _not _going to leave without them." I said, and the raven flew off.

* * *

**Oh poor Joy...yeah, if any of that info Joy spouted was inacurate, let me know. I just tried to sound as logical as possible. Our youth group had this challenge to put a piece of tape as high on the wall as possible, so the two tallest guys were on our team, and they lifted me up like that, with one of my other friends as a spotter.**

**You know the Drill, reviews make me happy, suggestions make me smirk, I love feedback you wonderful readers!**


	22. Chapter 22

**I only own my OC's Ninjago belongs to Lego and whoever else has claim to it.**

* * *

Recovery Road

Chapter Twenty-Two: Goodbye

Joy's POV

"Guys," I shouted over the wind, a low tree branch hitting my cheek, the biting gales only making the sting of the wood worse. "I really hope they're both okay." I felt Zane squeeze my hand, and I squeezed back. When visibility had dropped again, Zane started leading the way, and we all held hands like kindergarten students, making a line so no one got lost.

"They will be alright Joy, I promise." Zane said, and I smiled, even though he wouldn't be able to see it. Zane stopped without warning, and I walked right into him.

"Sorry." I mumbled.

"We are here." I looked up and could make out the branches of a large tree.

"Then let's go." I whispered.

* * *

Zoë's POV

I kept my eyes on the floor as the door to the outside world opened; a strong gust of cold, snowy air blew at my hair. I heard Joy running down the steps; she was by my side and wrapped her arms around me. It was odd how two years had completely changed her first opinion of me, the shy girl who had intruded in her personal workshop in her parent's back yard, to who I was now, her sister. She pulled away from me.

"Zoë, are you alright?" She said, and I knew she knew something was wrong, I didn't look at her, and I didn't move. "Zoë, please, look at me." I closed my eyes, and I knew what their next question was. "Where's Lydia?"

"I don't think Zoë is going to answer you, but perhaps I can." Jennifer said, and I heard her climbing up the stairs. My bangs had fallen out of place and covered my eyes, but I peered through them and looked at my relative. She had Lydia held in front of her, her left hand pulling at my sister's darkened hair, and the other held a knife at her throat. "Lydia's right here." Through my bangs, I saw the ninja giving each other worried looks. Had they never been in a situation like this? "Now, I saw you all sit on your knees, alongside Zoë, and then we can talk." Joy kneeled first, sitting slightly in front of me, the heel of her foot hitting her phone which was in her pocket. Zane sat next to me, and I felt him touch my shoulder.

"_Hello Hello, turn down the music_

_Joy's got a phone call so you better answer it!_

_Hear it ring, and let's go!_

_No matter what you can't ignore this!_

_Hello Hello, turn down the music_

_Yeah"_

The others bit back a laugh at Joy's ringtone. She pulled out her phone, and hit several buttons.

"Place it on the ground." Jennifer commanded, and Joy did so, the blue case surrounded the dark screen. "Who called?" her grip on the knife lightened slightly.

"Lydia's aunt, she wanted to know where we are." Joy pushed a lock of my hair back, and I looked at her. She was lying. I had seen her dial 911. She had darkened the screen to make it look like it was off. They would be able to track the call. "Don't worry, it's off. The battery is low anyways." Jennifer only had to buy it for a few minutes, and then they would know where we were.

I looked at the others, and then back at Lydia. She was barely conscious, and the light blue tinge her skin was taking on was making me ill at ease. She was no longer shivering, and I could feel that it was a bad sign.

* * *

Kylie's POV

I looked past Jay and Cole, and Joy to look at Zoë. Her eyes were fixed on Lydia, and I could see why. The kid looked like she was dead; her lips were lightly turning blue. "Let her go!" I shouted, and Jennifer looked right at me, a sneer slid onto her face.

"I don't think I will Kylie." Her eyes slid over to Zoë's and Zane. "Unless my _siblings _promise that they will stay. Zoë's already made her choice, isn't that right sister?" Zoë's hung her head in shame. She had promised to stay?! I felt blood roaring in my ears, but it quickly died. She would have done it to keep Lydia safe. Heck, Zoë would have done it for any of us, even if we telling her not to.

I felt Cole tap my hand, and he nodded towards Jennifer's computer, just barely. I saw what he was trying to show me, a red box was blinking on screen, and it was glaring at us with big, black, block letters.

INTRUDER.

From somewhere above, the door flew open, there were several loud cracking sounds, and several flashes all around us, I saw Lydia lying on the ground and ran over to her, picking up her cold form. Placing my hand over her mouth, I felt my heart stop. Something red was covering my hand, and something warm dripped onto my leg. Ripping the hat off of my head, I pressed it against the knife slash on her arm. Several police officers, and several paramedics were talking, but everything was muddled, colors, sights, and sounds all blurred into each other. Seeing the police lead Jennifer out in hand cuffs was vivid though.

* * *

**Lol...my parents took my brother video game shopping tonight, so I'm sitting here alone, in my closet beacuse my mother has informed me that there is a rapist on the loose within a quarter mile radius of where we live, and he targets young, high school students.**

**So yeah, I'm a little freaked out, I've locked every door and window in our house, barricaded my door, I'm armed with a baseball bat, and I'm close enough to the kitchen to grab a knife, and right near the window that would drop about 20 feet into a huge mulch pile.**

**Now that you know how I am, how are all of y'all?**

**You know the Drill, reviews make me happy, suggestions make me smirk, I love feedback you wonderful readers!**


	23. Chapter 23

**I only own my OC's Ninjago belongs to Lego and whoever else has claim to it.**

* * *

Recovery Road

Chapter Twenty-Three: Game Changer

Lloyd's POV

Lydia had snuggled up beside me as I flipped through the channels, looking for something to watch. I stopped on a news channel, much to Lydia's disappointment. "Lloyd, c'mon, there has to be anything- oh god." She trailed off suddenly, I looked at her and saw how pale she got, the color literally draining from her skin. She pulled out her phone and started typing on the minuscule keyboard like her life depended on it. I turned the volume up.

"- They aren't sure how, but the forty-one year old woman did indeed manage to escape from the mental hospital she was being held at. For those of you who are not aware, Jennifer Julien was the woman who kidnapped Zoë, the teenager from Five of a Kind, several months ago." Lydia turned off the TV. She hit send on her phone and curled back up next to me. Outside it was pouring rain, the kind where if you could see something right in front of your face, you were lucky. Lydia's breaths were slowing down, and becoming even as we just laid there on the couch, my arms wrapped around her, listening to the storm outside. I could tell that she was falling asleep, and her mom had noticed that when she fell asleep snuggling with me, she didn't have as many nightmares.

The phone suddenly rang, and Lydia bolted upright, jumping over the coffee table and heading towards the kitchen. "Hello?" She asked, and she pulled the phone a few inches away from her ear. "Joy, slow down, I can't understand what you're saying! Yes I saw the news. What? No, I didn't hear about Cheater's Clock. Jennifer's escaped from the Looney bin. Yeah. Look, I'll go check out these Cheater's Clock people. Alright, I'll see you at the studio tomorrow." She hung up and sat down on the floor.

"Is Joy having problems or something?" I asked, grabbing Lydia's hand to pull her up off of the floor. She shook her head, and walked into the living room again, turning on her laptop, typing in her password, she went to the website she helped her friends manage. As she typed her log in info, an error message popped up.

Invalid Log in Information

Account has been terminated

"Damn it!" she said, and pulled out her phone again, dialing a number. "Noland, I need you to override the website, either we're just experiencing technical difficulties, or someone's hacked us. Dude! My entire account was terminated, yes there's something wrong!" she typed something else in, and a picture popped up.

There were four people with their backs to the camera, two wearing blue t-shirts, and two wearing red t-shirts. There was a large black rectangle going diagonally down the image, it said Cheaters Clock on it in white, blocky letters.

**Sorry to the members of Five of a Kind. You took a break; we decided to take a chance!**

**Hope you understand, out with the old…**

**…and in with the new!**

**Your friends, the members of Cheaters Clock**

"Damn it, no!" She shouted, fingers flying across the worn keys. The screen went completely blank, and an error message popped up in the center of the screen.

**Website domain has been terminated.**

A single tear landed on the keyboard, and I put my hand on Lydia's, her skin still frightfully cold. I could feel her blood pumping through her veins as her delicate hands balled into fists. She picked up the laptop, stood up, and threw it onto the couch. Her raven hair tumbled past her shoulders, a stark contrast to her sickly pale skin. In less than a year, it had become so light in color, it made her friends worry, and I knew her mother was upset.

She ran from the room, and I heard the door slam shut. My body followed after her, my mind still several steps behind. In the dimming evening sun, she slid into the trees, and I couldn't see her anymore.

* * *

Zoë's POV

"So what do you think Zoë?" I looked at my father, tearing my eyes away from the back of the small paperback novel. He laughed lightly. "You've been staring at the back cover for nearly ten minutes, what do you think about it?"

Ten minutes? How was that possible, he just handed it to me! My eyes skimmed over the light colored words. "It sounds interesting, I believe that Clarity will solve the murder, but only after a serious game-changing plot twist. Thank you father." I said, opening the cover and turning to the first page.

The phone in the kitchen rang, and I saw Zane hold it out to me. "It's for you Zo'e." Placing the book on the couch, I took the phone, and held it to my ear.

"Hello?" I asked, and that was when I heard it, a soft click, and then two very familiar voices, the quality was low, and obviously a recording.

_"They'll know!"_

_"Not if you can't remember what happened."_ There was a sickening crack, and the sound of something being torn. The other person was screaming, and I felt the phone fall from my hand.

What had Jennifer done to me?

* * *

**Sorry that this took so long! I kinda forgot about it, and then I remembered about it, and then I started Fallen, Lost, and Alone...so yeah...**

**Anyone know what Jennifer did to our Zo-zo? I know!**

**This has maybe one or two more chapters before the sequal, and holy crow it's a lot that's going to happen.**

**There's the introduction of the grey ninja, the last date, a fallen dancer, a race against time, and someone's going to the hospital. we also have the reveal of what truly happened to Lydia that day.(that is if you guys haven't pieced it together, I've hinted at it for a while...)**

**Now that you know how I am, how are all of y'all?**

**You know the Drill, reviews make me happy, suggestions make me smirk, I love feedback you wonderful readers!**


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